Stocks Lower Early Thursday

NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are falling Thursday morning and returning some of their recent gains. Banks are skidding on the prospect of a drop in interest rates. Energy companies are slipping with the price of oil and metals companies are also down.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average slid 53 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,951 as of 10 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 8 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,111. The Nasdaq composite declined 15 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,959. Over the last few days the S&P 500 has reached its highest levels since last July and oil prices have done the same. The Nasdaq is at its highest levels in 2016.

ECB WARNING: The president of the European Central Bank warned in a speech Thursday that the eurozone economy needs governments to make more reforms if it is to see higher growth. Mario Draghi noted the central bank could not heal the economy on its own.

BANKS BONK: Bond prices rose and the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note dropped to 1.67 percent from 1.70 percent. Bond yields are linked to interest rates, so the lower yields hurt financial companies. Bank of America gave up 29 cents, or 2 percent, to $14.14 and Capital One fell $1.54, or 2.1 percent, to $70.56.

HARD TIMES FOR HARDWARE: Home furnishings retailer Restoration Hardware cut its forecast for the year after it reported weak quarterly results. The company said it's facing weaker sales of luxury goods. Its stocklost $6.52, or 18.1 percent, to $29.55.

LET'S JAM: J.M. Smucker climbed after it reported strong fourth-quarter sales of coffee products and pet foods. The company also gave an optimistic profit forecast for the current fiscal year. Its stock added $7.30, or 5.5 percent, to $139.98.

METAL MISERY: Mining companies also weakened. Copper and gold producer Freeport-McMoRan fell 57 cents, or 5 percent, to $11.01 and aluminum company Alcoa slid 29 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $9.60.

OIL: U.S. crude shed 63 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $50.61 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the benchmark for international oil prices, fell 58 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $51.93 a barrel in London. ConocoPhillips lost 62 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $46.87 and Transocean gave up 19 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $11.34.

OVERSEAS: Germany's DAX fell 1.1 percent and Britain's FTSE 100 slid 0.8 percent. France's CAC 40 lost 0.6 percent. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 shed 1 percent after the government reported that domestic and foreign private machinery orders fell in April from the month before, which suggests capital investment remains weak. South Korea's KOSPI was 0.1 percent lower.

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 106.52 yen from 106.94 yen on Wednesday. The euro dropped to $1.1328 from $1.1397.

(KA)