Banks, dam targeted by Iranian hackers, US says; 7 charged

UAE terror charges dropped for Libyan-Americans, Canadian

U.S. stocks wavered between small gains and losses in late-afternoon trading Thursday as the market pared some of its losses from earlier in the day. Banks and other financial services companies were among the biggest decliners. 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 dipped three points to 17,499 as of 3:19 p.m. Eastern Time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost two points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,034. The Nasdaq composite rose less than one point to 4,769. U.S. financial markets will be closed Friday for the Good Friday holiday. THE QUOTE: "What you're seeing is profit-taking," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial. "It's the end of the quarter and a lot of managers were lagging in their performance and they're taking profit wherever they can lock in some profit." BIG DECLINER: Natural gas producer Williams Cos. fell the most among stocks in the S&P 500 index. The company tumbled 93 cents, or 5.7 percent, to $15.24. FINANCIALS DOWN: Prudential Financial lost $2.39, or 3.3 percent, to $70.44, while Morgan Stanley shed 39 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $24.88. PayPal slumped $1.67, or 4.1 percent, to $38.85. BAD RUN: Sportsman's Warehouse sank 10.7 percent after the company released a disappointing forecast. The stock shed $1.47 to $12.32. 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 46 cents, or 7.3 percent, to $6.80. Staples climbed 76 cents, or 7.6 percent, to $10.82. BRICKS & STICKS: KB Home rose 6.3 percent after the homebuilder reported strong first-quarter results. The stock gained 82 cents to $13.92. SHINY HAPPY JEWELER: Signet Jewelers rose 3.5 percent after the retailer posted solid quarterly results and its annual profit forecast was better than expected. The stock added $4.09 to $122.10. FASHIONABLE RESULTS: PVH, owner of the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands, rose 7.5 percent after it reported better-than-anticipated quarterly profit and revenue. The stock gained $6.61 to $94.24. 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 posted sizable losses. Germany's DAX dropped 1 percent, while France's CAC-40 fell 3 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 slid 1.3 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 closed lower again as concerns over excess supplies returned following the latest U.S. stockpiles data. Benchmark U.S. crude fell 33 cents, or 0.8 percent, to close at $39.46 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the benchmark for international oils, slipped 3 cents to $40.44 a barrel in London. Wholesale gasoline rose a penny to close at $1.47 a gallon. Heating oil slipped a penny to close at $1.20 a gallon. Natural gas added a penny to close at $1.81 per 1,000 cubic feet. METALS: Gold fell $2.40 to $1,221.60 an ounce. Silver slid 7 cents to $15.20 an ounce. Copper lost a penny to $2.23 a pound. BONDS AND CURRENCIES: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.90 percent from 1.88 percent late Wednesday. The euro was down to $1.1177 from $1.1183, while the dollar rose to 112.81 yen from 112.39.

Financial stocks lead an afternoon decline on Wall Street