Data drown out Yellen rate talk

Reuters - Markets bounce back after yelling at Yellen for signaling rate hikes could come earlier than anticipated. Thursday's gains just about made up for the previous day's losses, with banks leading the way since they will benefit most from higher interest rates. Speaking of banks, shares of Zion Bancorp rallied more than 3 percent before learning it was the only major bank to fail the Federal Reserve's annual stress test. Also after the bell, earnings from Nike. The athletic apparel company beat sales and profit forecasts and said its order backlog is up 12 percent. Staying with earnings: Lennar sold more homes at higher price tags last quarter. The homebuilder, though, says it's hard to predict what the spring buying season will look like. But sales of previously owned homes continue their slide in February. Sales slumped to a 1-1/2 year low, according to data from an industry trade group. The numbers raise more concern that the traditional uptick during the spring buying season may be muted. Jed Kolko of Trulia says today's potential buyers are more financially restrained than those who bought when housing was coming out of the downturn.