Wall Street declines; Dow ends 105 pts down & Asia trading lower; Nikkei down nealy 3%

US markets retreated as Microsoft layoffs and bank worries overshadowed hope for economic stimulus. Microsoft was down 12% as it missed earnings target and said it would cut up to 5000 jobs. In financials, Citigroup & Bank of America were down 15% down each.
Glum economic data did little to revive optimism in the broader market. Initial jobless claims for the week ending January 17 jumped 62,000 to 589,000. December housing starts dropped 15.5% to 550,000.
Also hanging over the market's head was the delay of a full-senate vote on Tim Geithner as Treasury Secretary until next week, leaving a key chair in Obama's economic huddles empty.
The Dow slipped 105.30 points, or 1.28%, to 8,122.80. The S&P 500 index fell 12.74 points, or 1.52%, to 827.50. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index slipped 41.58 points, or 2.76%, to 1,465.49.