United States stocks drop; Wal-Mart slumps on weak guidance

That puts it in the same league as Deutsche Bank, which is recommended as “hold” by 51.2 percent of analysts, and a “sell” by 17.1 percent, according to Bloomberg.

The Nasdaq composite tried to hold higher, as a rally of more than 10 percent in SanDisk (SNDK) on news it was exploring a potential sale boosted semiconductor stocks. Intel (INTC) also gained more than 1 percent, following solid earnings.

The bank saw strong growth in loans and deposits, with total average loans of $895.1 billion, up 7 percent or $61.9 billion year-over-year.

Bank of America swung to a profit of 34 cents a share in Q3, beating estimates by a penny, from a year-ago loss of 4 cents a share. The index was up 0.56 points, or 0.03 percent, at 2,004.25. “That’s going to be slow coming”.

Since 2005, there have been 25 occasions when Wal-Mart shares fell 5 percent or greater in one week.

Treasury yields traded lower after the data, with the 10-year (U.S.:US10Y) briefly dipping below 2 percent for the first time since October 5. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 24 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 17,106.

The Fed, which has not raised rates since 2006, has said it will wait for clear signs of economic stability before it pulls the trigger.

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) reported its quarterly results late Tuesday, with revenue falling in a number of its units.

The Nasdaq traded up 8 points, or 0.16 percent, at 4,804. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had predicted a seasonally adjusted 0.2% decrease in the producer-price index (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-producer-prices-fall-05-in-september-on-cheaper-gas-2015-10-14)-an important inflation indicator-while September retail sales rose 0.1% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/retail-sales-rise-just-01-in-september-2015-10-14), in line with estimates.

In currencies, the euro rose 0.5% against the dollar to $1.1445, while the dollar was 0.5% lower against the yen at Yen119.13.

Wells Fargo fell 1.9% to $50.86 after reporting results.

Wells Fargo has been buying a few of General Electric ‘s (NYSE:GE) assets and recently announced the purchase of GE Capital’s $30 billion commercial leasing and lending unit. The Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.9% lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.7% and Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.9%. Brent crude, used to price worldwide oils, fell 4 cents to $49.65 a barrel in London.

The Dow industrials were off its lows but still trading firmly in negative territory on Wednesday after comments from Wal-Mart Stores stoked fears about flagging global growth. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1 percent to 5,197.30.

About seven stocks declined for every eight advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, with an exchange volume of 372 million and a composite volume of almost 1.8 billion.

ENERGY: Benchmark US crude added 9 cents to $46.74 per barrel in electronic trading on New York Mercantile Exchange.