U.S. Stocks Fall on ECB Draghi Comments, Earnings Reports - by kolaj Gammeltoft, Leslie Picker and Sarah Pringle

Stocks worldwide fell after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled policy makers are concerned that the euro’s advance could damp inflation and hamper an economic recovery. 

U.S. stocks fell, after a two-day advance in the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index, as corporate earnings reports disappointed and European policy makers warned the euro’s advance could hamper the region’s recovery. 

The S&P 500 dropped 0.2 percent to 1,509.27 at 4 p.m. in New York. The benchmark equity gauge earlier fell as much as 0.9 percent and is poised for its first weekly decline of the year. Stocks pared losses as Apple Inc. said it’s in “active discussions about returning additional cash to shareholders,” and that it’s considering a proposal that it issue preferred stock.

“We’ve moved so far so fast that the market’s just looking for any kind of sign to take something off the table,” Mark Freeman, who oversees about $14.1 billion as chief investment officer at Westwood Holdings Group Inc. in Dallas, said in a phone interview. “The market really needs a positive catalyst to take it higher.”

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