Dow slides 174 after dropping 200 earlier

U.S. stocks tumbled Thursday amid what has been a choppy start to April after a strong run-up since the market low back in mid-February.

At the 4 p.m. ET close, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 174 points, after sliding as much as 200 points earlier. It was a 1% loss for the blue chips.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 stock index lost 1.2% and the technology-packed Nasdaq composite index fell 1.5%.

On Wednesday, stocks rallied sharply, ending a two-day losing streak, with the Dow shooting up 113 points and the S&P 500 jumping 1.1% and the Nasdaq oaring 1.6%. Yesterday's gains were sparked by a big move higher in the price of U.S. produced crude oil, which rose more than 5%.

But the momentum in the stock market is waning once again Thursday, as oil resumes its fall, dropping 2.6% to $36.77 a barrel, and investors brace for next week's start to the first-quarter earnings season, which is not expected to be strong.

CEO ‘outlook’ is key to earnings season

Stocks on Wall Street are confronting a host of headwinds after the big seven-week rally that erased the market's early-year drop of more than 10%.

The market is coming off a rally of more than 13% and is due for a pause, many analysts say. Stocks are also confronted with other headwinds, such as contracting profit growth, pricey stock valuations, continued uncertainty over interest rate policy, as well as uncertainty related to the November presidential election.

On the economic data front, initial first-time jobless claims fell 9,000 to 267,000 in the most recent week.

Applications for jobless aid fall to low level of 267,000

Stocks around the globe were also trading cautiously and skewing to the downside, although the declines were not sizable. In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.2% and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose 0.3%. But stocks in mainland China were down 1.4%.

In Europe, stocks were lower, with the broad Europe Stoxx 600 off 0.9%, and the German DAX off 1.1% and the CAC 40 in Paris down 1.1%.

Adam Shell on Twitter: @adamshell.