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A slide in banks and other financial services companies led a decline for U.S. stocks in afternoon trading Thursday, pointing the market toward its first weekly loss in five weeks. Investors were poring over the latest batch of company earnings and economic news, including government data indicating that orders for long-lasting manufactured goods fell more than expected last month. KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 67 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,435 as of 1:25 p.m. Eastern Time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost eight points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,028. The Nasdaq composite dropped 13 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,755. U.S. financial markets will be closed Friday for the Good Friday holiday. BIG DECLINER: Data storage manufacturer Seagate Technology was down the most among stocks in the S&P 500 index. The company tumbled $1.69, or 4.9 percent, to $33.11. FINANCIALS DOWN: Prudential Financial lost $2.76, or 3.8 percent, to $70.07, while Morgan Stanley shed 52 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $24.75. PayPal slumped $1.55, or 3.8 percent, to $38.98. BAD RUN: Sportsman's Warehouse sank 11 percent after the company released a disappointing forecast. The stock shed $1.51 to $12.28. OPTIMISTIC: Shares in Office Depot and Staples vaulted on mounting optimism that a court will allow the office supply competitors to combine even though regulators oppose the deal. Office Depot gained 61 cents, or 9.5 percent, to $6.95. Staples climbed 67 cents, or 6.7 percent, to $10.73. BRICKS & STICKS: KB Home rose 5.3 percent after the homebuilder reported strong first-quarter results. The stock gained 69 cents to $13.79. SHINY HAPPY JEWELER: Signet Jewelers rose 4 percent after the retailer posted solid quarterly results and its annual profit forecast was better than expected. The stock added $4.97 to $122.71. FASHIONABLE RESULTS: PVH, owner of the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands, rose 8.5 percent after it reported better-than-anticipated quarterly profit and revenue. The stock gained $7.41 to $95.04. ECONOMIC BELLWETHER: The Commerce Department said that orders to U.S. factories for long-lasting manufactured goods fell 2.8 percent in February, with a key category that tracks business investment dropping by the largest amount since December. OVERSEAS MARKETS: Stock markets in Europe were posting sizable losses. Germany's DAX dropped 1.7 percent, while France's CAC-40 fell 2.1 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 1.5 percent. In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 1.3 percent. Sydney's S&P ASX 200 fell 1.1 percent, while Seoul's Kospi was off 0.5 percent. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 shed 0.6 percent. ENERGY: After a period of sustained gains, oil prices were headed lower again as concerns over excess supplies returned following the latest U.S. stockpiles data. Benchmark U.S. crude was down 60 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $39.19 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the benchmark for international oils, was down 18 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $40.29 a barrel in London. BONDS AND CURRENCIES: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.89 percent from 1.88 percent late Wednesday. The euro was down to $1.1169 from $1.1183, while the dollar rose to 112.69 yen from 112.39.

Financial stocks lead an afternoon decline on Wall Street