U.S. stocks traded lower midday after volatile morning

U.S. stocks wavered between gains and losses in the morning session Thursday, as investors were sifting through disappointing earnings from U.S. banks, economic data and a soaring Swiss franc after its cap against the euro was scrapped.

Around midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 60.59 points, or 0.35 percent, to 17,336.50. The S&P 500 dipped 10.23 points, or 0.51 percent, to 2,001.04. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 36.76 points, or 0.79 percent, to 4,602.56.

Citigroup Inc. reported early Thursday net income of 350 million U.S. dollars for the fourth quarter 2014, or 0.06 dollar per diluted share, on revenues of 17.8 billion dollars, down sharply from the year-ago net income of 2.5 billion dollars, or 0. 77 dollar per diluted share, and revenues of 17.8 billion dollars.

The bank said legal and related expenses and repositioning charges totaled 3.5 billion dollars in the current quarter, compared to 1 billion dollars in the prior year period.

Meanwhile, Bank of America Corp. said its net income for the fourth quarter of 2014 was 3.1 billion U.S. dollars, or 0.25 dollar per diluted share, down from 3.4 billion dollars, or 0.29 dollar per share, in the fourth quarter of 2013.

The two companies' quarterly results were well below market estimates. In response, Citigroup shares sank 2.92 percent and Bank of American shares plunged 3.83 percent around midday.

U.S. banks' fourth-quarter earnings started with a somber tone after JPMorgan Chase on Wednesday reported a 6.6-percent drop in fourth-quarter profits due to expensive legal expenses.

Latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that S&P 500 companies' per-share earnings in the fourth quarter are expected to grow 3.5 percent year-over-year, while revenue is forecast to increase 0.9 percent.

U.S. stocks found little support from downbeat economic data. The number of Americans who initially applied for jobless benefits in the week ending Jan. 10 increased 19,000 to 316,000 from the previous week's revised level, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

Separately, the department said the U.S. Producer Price Index for final demand fell 0.3 percent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Early Thursday, the Swiss National Bank surprisingly announced that it is removing its minimum exchange rate of Swiss franc 1.20 per euro, leading the Swiss franc to surge to a high level against the euro.

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