Roundup: U.S. stocks end mixed amid Greek uncertainty

U.S. stocks closed mixed after wavering narrowly between gains and losses Thursday, with the S&P 500 hitting a new intraday record of 2,102.13 points, as investors tried to digest the impact of negotiations over Greece's bailout.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 44.08 points, or 0.24 percent, to 17,985.77. The S&P 500 was down 2.23 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,097.45. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 18.34 points, or 0.37 percent, to 4,924.70.

Germany rejected a request from Greece Thursday to extend its loan agreement with eurozone creditors, saying the Greek proposal did not meet previously agreed criteria decided by the Eurogroup Monday.

Earlier on Thursday, Greece submitted a request to the Euro Working Group for a six-month extension of the four-year bailout loan agreement in a bid to receive vital financial aid from the eurozone after the current bailout expires on Feb. 28.

A renewed oil decline also added negative sentiment to the market. According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. oil stockpiles increased by 7.7 million barrels last week, exceeding market estimates.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery moved down 0.98 U.S. dollar to settle at 51.16 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for April delivery dropped 0.32 dollar to close at 60.21 dollars a barrel.

However, U.S. weekly jobless claims came out positive. In the week ending Feb. 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims decreased 21,000 from the previous week's unrevised level to 283,000, lower than market consensus of 290,000, said U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

Wall Street also continued to digest minutes of the Federal Reserve's January policy meeting released Wednesday, which showed that more Fed officials leaned toward keeping rates at zero "for a longer time" than wanted in an earlier move.

In corporate news, shares of Wal-Mart dipped 3.21 percent to 83. 52 dollars apiece Thursday after the world's largest retailer reported adjusted earnings that beat estimates, and revenue that missed expectations.

Latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that S&P 500 companies' per-share earnings in the fourth quarter of 2014 are expected to grow 6.6 percent year on year, while revenue growth is forecast to increase 1.9 percent. A total of 425 companies in the S&P 500 have reported quarterly results to date.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 1.04 percent to end at 15.29 Thursday.

In other markets, the U.S. dollar rose against other major currencies on Thursday as job data from the country came out positive.

In late New York trading, the euro declined to 1.1365 dollars from 1.1378 dollars in the previous session, while the greenback bought 118.99 Japanese yen, higher than 118.77 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rebounded Thursday, with the most active gold contract for April delivery up 7.4 dollars, or 0.62 percent, to settle at 1, 207.60 dollars per ounce. Endite