NEW YORK, March 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks declined for the week after choppy trading, as investors eyed the political developments in the White House, amid a slew of economic reports.
U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to sack H.R. McMaster, his national security adviser, and was "actively" talking about other potential replacements, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.
If confirmed, the change of personnel was expected to mark yet another shakeup in the senior ranks of the Trump administration.
The president announced to fire State Secretary Rex Tillerson on Tuesday, replacing him with Mike Pompeo, the current chief of Central Intelligence Agency.
John McEntee, Trump's longtime personal aide, was forced out of the White House on the same day after his security clearance was abruptly revoked.
On Wednesday, Trump nominated former TV analyst Larry Kudlow to replace Gary Cohn, his top economic adviser that quit over tariff disagreements with Trump.
The U.S. media said that the mood inside the White House has verged on mania and anxiety in recent days due to the president's increasing interest in sacking people around him.
Meanwhile, Trump's tariffs plan was still in focus as it is expected to come into effect in the coming weeks. Many analysts worried reaction from the European Union and reaction from China in terms of retaliatory responses.
Trump formally signed proclamations on March 8 to implement a 25-percent tariff on steel imports and a 10-percent charge on aluminum imports, amid mounting dissent from business groups and trading partners around the world.
The tariffs would take effect in 15 days with initial exemptions for Canada and Mexico pending the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
On the economic front, U.S. industrial production rose 1.1 percent in February, well above market estimates of a 0.4-percent gain.
The number of job openings increased to 6.3 million on the last business day of January, beating market expectations of 5.8 million.
The preliminary reading of U.S. consumer sentiment in March rose to 102, higher than economists' estimates of 98.8, according to a survey released by the University of Michigan.
U.S. privately-owned housing starts in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,236,000, missing market consensus.
In the week ending March 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 226,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level.
U.S. import prices increased 0.4 percent in February, beating market consensus of 0.3 percent, while prices for U.S. exports rose 0.2 percent in February following a 0.8-percent advance in the previous month.
Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for February 2018 came in at 492 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of 0.1 percent from the previous month, missing market consensus of a 0.4-percent gain.
The Producer Price Index for final demand advanced 0.2 percent in February, seasonally adjusted, in line with market estimates.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all urban consumers increased 0.2 percent in February on a seasonally adjusted basis, in line with market consensus.
For the week, the blue-chip Dow tumbled 1.5 percent, and the broader S&P 500 dropped 1.2 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.0 percent.
