“We’ve seen almost every single U.S. data in the last couple of weeks softer than expected… and now we’re in this lull between the end of that QE and what will potentially be another QE,” said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist and portfolio manager at Miller Tabak & Co. on CNBC’s “ Power Lunch .” “So in this environment of QE and not-QE, It’s tough to say that it’s a bull market type of environment; it’s more of a trading environment.”

On the economic front, jobless claims slipped far less than expected to a seasonally adjusted 386,000 last week, which was less than expected, according to the Labor Department. The four-week moving average for new claims rose 5,500 to 374,750.

Adding to woes, existing home sales slipped2.6 percent to an annual rate of 4.48 million units in March. And the Philadelphia Fed index of business conditions for April came in at 8.5, well below forecasts.

Meanwhile, leading indicators touched its highest level in nearly four years, increasing 0.3 percent to 95.7 in March, its sixth-straight month of gains.

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