Wall Street inches down, but ends month higher (2)

Wall Street tumbled all of a sudden in the last half hour of the Thursday session, while the Dow was just about 40 points from its record high.

Greco said that he was sure the stock market would go through all-time highs in the near term before an 8-to-10 percent correction.

In corporate news, J.C. Penney shares plunged 16.97 percent to 17.57 dollars. The department store reported massive losses for its fiscal fourth quarter after Wednesday's closing bell.

Shares of Groupon also plummeted 24.28 percent to 4.53 dollars, one day after the Internet information provider posted disappointing fourth-quarter earnings.

Gap shares rose in after-hours trading as the apparel store chain posted better-than-expected earnings after the closing bell.

In the past two days, the main stock indices moved closer to their all-time highs, as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reaffirmed in his two-day Capitol Hill testimony that the central bank's massive bond-purchasing programs were needed to boost a still-weak economy, and have helped create jobs for average Americans.

The U.S. dollar advanced against most major currencies on Thursday, bolstered by the positive economic data.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery lost 71 cents, or 0.77 percent, to settle at 92.05 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday. Brent crude for April delivery also decreased 49 cents, or 0.4 percent, to close at 111.38 dollars a barrel.

Gold future for April delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday lost 17.6 dollars, or 1.1 percent, to settle at 1,578.1 dollars per ounce mainly due to the stronger dollar.