Wall Street wraps up for the week lower while US dollar soars on ECB

• The Dow fell 113.36 points, or 0.33%, to 34,451.23. 
• The S&P 500 fell 54 points, or 1.21%, to 4,392.59.
• The Nasdaq Composite lost 292.51 points, or 2.14%, to 13,351.08.

Stocks on Wall Street closed lower on Thursday as traders went home to celebrate the long Easter weekend while bond yields resumed their northerly trajectory and investors contended with mixed earnings, the European Central Bank's dovishness and economic data.

All three major US stock benchmarks posted weekly losses ahead of the Good Friday holiday. Rising 10-year Treasury yields pressured growth stocks, sending the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq into deeper bearish levels on the charts. The Dow posted a more modest loss but it still fell 113.36 points, or 0.33%, to 34,451.23. The S&P 500 fell 54 points, or 1.21%, to 4,392.59 while the Nasdaq Composite lost 292.51 points, or 2.14%, to 13,351.08.

Looking forward, the first-quarter reporting season will be the focus that has started to get underway, albeit with only 34 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. ''Analysts now expect aggregate annual S&P 500 earnings growth of 6.3%, less optimistic than the 7.5% growth projected at the beginning of the year,'' Reuters reported. 

Meanwhile, in currencies, the euro plunged to a two-year low against the greenback following comments from ECB President Christine Lagarde that have been taken as a signal to markets that there will be no hurry to raise interest rates. However, the ECB said it plans to cut bond purchases this quarter, and then end them at some point in the third quarter. The dollar index (DXY) climbed to a fresh cycle high of 100.761 with the euro falling to a low of 1.0757. The US benchmark 10-year yield has scored highs of 2.833%, currently 4.55% higher on the day following two days of declines.