U.S. stocks continued their March swoon Thursday, and banks were among the biggest losers. In international economic news, European markets finished mixed. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it was throwing Ukraine an $18 billion lifeline. Asian markets also ended mixed. Japan's Nikkei rose. But Chinese stocks fell. Shares of online giant Tencent fell by nearly 6 percent in Hong Kong. Investors and traders have been growing concerned that valuations have become too rich for Chinese tech stocks, much like investors in the United States have regarding the likes of Facebook and Twitter. In corporate news, Citigroup shares dropped over 5 percent. Bank of America shares gave up earlier gains even though the bank announced an increase in its dividend and a new stock buyback plan. The firm also unveiled a $9.5 billion settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The deal settles all litigation between Bank of America and the agency over the use of mortgage-backed securities in the run up to the housing meltdown. Lululemon popped after the yoga wear maker reported quarterly increases in revenue and net income. The stock was up over 6 percent even though it also had a slide in same-store sales. GameStop shares tanked after the video game retailer missed earnings estimates and gave a lackluster outlook for the current quarter. The company was hit hard by Wal-Mart's announcement last month that it would buy used video games, a business which is traditionally GameStop's bread and butter. BlackBerry was downgraded to a "sell" by an analyst at Societe Generale. Shares slumped on the news. The stock has had a rough go of it in recent years, but has rallied around 21 percent this year on hopes of a turnaround. The dollar gained ground against the pound but lost ground versus the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for May delivery added $1.02 to $101.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures dropped $8.70 to $1,294.70 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 4.76, or 0.03 percent, to 16,264.23. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.52, or 0.19 percent, to 1,849.04. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 22.35, or 0.54 percent, to 4,151.23.
