U.S. stocks continue to slip amid mixed banks earnings, weak data

U.S. stocks tumbled midday Wednesday, with the three major indices extending their losses into a fourth straight day, weighed by mixed earnings of American banks, soft data and worries about global economy.

At noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 254.09 points, or 1.44 percent, to 17,359.59. The S&P 500 fell 22.63 points, or 1. 12 percent, to 2,000.40. The Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 36.84 points, or 0.79 percent, to 4,624.66.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported early Wednesday that both its profit and revenue for the fourth quarter of 2014 slipped from a year ago, missing analysts' expectations, as the company's results were hurt by expensive legal costs.

The largest U.S. bank by asset posted net income for the fourth quarter of 4.9 billion U.S. dollars, or 1.19 dollars per diluted share, down from 5.3 billion dollars, or 1.30 dollars per share, in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Meanwhile, Wells Fargo & Company reported fourth-quarter results in line with market expectations. The biggest U.S. mortgage lender said its net income for the fourth quarter of 2014 was 5.7 billion dollars, or 1.02 dollars per share, both up 2 percent from the same period of 2013. Its total revenue for the quarter was 21.4 billion dollars, up 4 percent year on year.

On the economic front, U.S. retail and food services sales fell 0.9 percent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, the biggest decline since January 2014, said the U.S. Commerce Department. The drop was much bigger than analysts' expectations.

Separately, it said that U.S. business inventories were up 0.2 percent in November from October, lower than market consensus of 0. 3 percent.

"A weak finish for fourth quarter retail sales suggests consumers may not be quite as happy about lower gas prices as thought," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

Additionally, the price index for U.S. imports fell 2.5 percent in December, the biggest decline in six years, the U.S. Labor Department said. Meanwhile, export prices fell 1.2 percent last month.

Dampening investor sentiment, the World Bank lowered its global economy growth forecasts for 2014 and 2015 Tuesday. In its latest flagship report Global Economic Prospects, the World Bank projected the global economy to grow 2.6 percent in 2014 and 3 percent in 2015, down 0.2 percentage point and 0.4 percentage point from its June forecasts, respectively. Endite