Investors were in a selling mood at the end of a mostly subdued week of trading, sending U. S. stocks lower for the third day in a row Thursday.<br />The slide marked the lowest close for the stock market since Feb. 13<br />and came on a day when several major banks reported their latest quarterly results, kicking off the company earnings season.<br />Traders also weighed the potential for rising geopolitical tensions following news<br />that the U. S. attacked an Islamic State tunnel complex in eastern Afghanistan with the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the U. S. military.<br />Benchmark U. S. crude rose 7 cents to close at $53.18 per barrel in New York.<br />U. S. Steel fell 5.9 percent as investors weighed the impact of a wastewater spill at one of the company’s steel plants in northern Indiana.
