Markets give up year to date gains Citigroup tumbles as Feds reject bank plans

The New Zealand dollar continues to climb As the

month comes to a close and winter is over traders are expecting big things for the US

markets. Wall Street moved between gains and losses in choppy trading Thursday, while the

Nasdaq Composite Index extended recent declines to near-two-month lows.

U.S. stocks fell erasing most of the S&P 500's year-to-date gain, as banking and technology

stocks led the selloff. The benchmark S&P 500 turned nearly flat for the first after

falling almost 1 percent this week as many of the market's biggest trading favorites

lost their momentum. The Dow Jones dipped 4.76 points or 0.03 percent, to end at 16-2-64.23.

The S&P 500 lost 3.52 points to close at 18-49.04. The NASDAQ dropped 22.3-46 points to finish

at 41-51.2-32. At the close, the S&P 500 was up just a fraction of a point for the year.

Citigroup tumbled 5.4 percent to $47.45 a day after the Fed rejected the bank's plan

to buy back $6.4 billion in shares and boost dividends, saying that Citi wasn't sufficiently

prepared to handle a potential financial crisis. A source close to the matter told Reuters

that Citi officials had not expected the rejection. Big tech names also dropped, including Google

off 1.6 percent at $11-14.28, Microsoft was down 1.1 percent at $39.36, and Amazon was

down 1.4 percent at $3-38.47. Twitter's market value continues to disappear.

Simply put, it seems that investors have come to the realization that the company may not

be the next Facebook or Google after all. Even though it seems like you can't turn on

the television or go online without some promotional hashtag hitting you in the face #March Madness.

Facebook has more than 1.2 billion active monthly users. And that doesn't include Instagram

or any new users it may acquire when the WhatsApp purchase is complete. Twitter has "only" 241

million active monthly users. Google+ has more than twice as many as Twitter with 540

million. The Stoxx Europe 600 edged up 0.1%, adding

to a 2% rise in the previous two sessions. Asian markets were mixed, with China's Shanghai

Composite losing 0.8%, while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1%.

In the foreign exchange market Economic data was mixed. Pending home sales for February

fell for an eighth-straight month versus expectations of a slight increase. Meanwhile, weekly jobless

claims declined to a four-month low, while economists forecast a slight rise. And fourth-quarter

gross domestic product growth was raised to 2.6% from a previous estimate of 2.4%, just

missing expectations of 2.7%. The euro struggled near a three-week low against

the dollar on Friday, weighed by recent dovish talk from several European Central Bank (ECB)

officials. The New Zealand dollar continued its bull run, hitting a 2-1/2-year high against

the greenback and a six-year peak versus the yen. The euro last traded at $1.37-44, having

touched three-week lows of $1.37-28 overnight, on track to end lower for a second straight

week. Against the yen, the common currency stood at 1-40.41 yen after slipping to three-week

lows of 1-40.19.

In the commodity space gold trimmed a second weekly loss as investors weighed speculation

a drop below $13 hundred an ounce will spur demand against signs of a U.S. recovery, which

may add to the case for tapering. Platinum and palladium advanced.

Crude oil headed for a second weekly advance amid shrinking stockpiles at the U.S. oil

storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, and concern the crisis in Ukraine threatens supplies from

Russia. The contract gained $1.02 to $101.28 yesterday.

This is Amy Anderson from OptionRally signing off. And of course I'm waiting for your LIKE

below if you enjoyed today's Market Watch. Have a great weekend