NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stocks moved off session lows by mid-morning on Thursday, though all benchmark indexes remained in the red. Equities have been falling since an unexpected slide in durable goods orders provided another sign the U.S. economy could be on weaker footing.

The S&P 500 was down 0.26%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 0.3%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.38%.

"This year we're going to see more volatility than we've seen in the last three or four years," said Luis Gonzalez, managing director of Snowden Lane Partners, on a call. "You're going to see some big swings through the course of the year."

Markets have been shaky this week as investors perceive the Federal Reserve is determined to begin to normalize monetary policy sooner than later, regardless of poor economic data that points to a U.S. slowdown. 

"The data looks poor and durable goods strikes as a deeper theme than just weather and strikes," said CRT Capital's David Ader. "We 'get' the Fed wants to hike at least once, but between that and earnings we're wary of stocks."

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard struck a hawkwish tone on Thursday. "Now may be a good time to begin normalizing U.S. monetary policy so that it is set appropriately for an impoving economy over the next two years," he said, addressing an audience in Frankfurt, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart was only slightly more dovish, recognizing that the first quarter looked "very soft." Speaking with CNBC, Lockhart said he expected a rate hike midyear or later as a harsh winter and the effect of lower oil prices appeared "transitory."

Weekly jobless claims in the U.S. continued their trend downward, falling 9,000 to 282,000 over the week ended March 21. Economists had expected 293,000 first-time filings for unemployment benefits.

Geopolitical pressure in Yemen contributed to stock market jitters, but helped to push crude prices higher. West Texas Intermediate surged 1.7% to $50.03 a barrel on news Saudi Arabia and Gulf allies bombed Yemeni militias as the country faces civil war. The infighting could potentially disrupt crude supplies in the region, alleviating pressure on global oversupply.

To Europe, German consumer confidence hit a 13-year high a day after business confidence reached its highest point in months. Separately, the Bank of Spain boosted its 2015 growth forecast to 2.8%, up from 2% previously.

European markets ignored signs of improvement in the eurozone, instead joining in on U.S. markets' selloff. Germany's DAX tanked 1.1%, France's CAC 40 plummeted 1.4% and the FTSE 100 in London tumbled 1.3%.

Red Hat (RHT) - Get Report shares spiked 8.8% after the company reported quarterly profit of 43 cents a share, 2 cents higher than analysts' estimates. The company said it is seeing increased demand for its cloud products.

SanDisk (SNDK) tanked 16.5% after lowering its first-quarter revenue guidance, citing weak demand as reason to slash prices. The company expects sales over its March-ending quarter of $1.3 billion, down from $1.45 billion previously.

Lululemon (LULU) - Get Report added 6.4% after beating earnings estimates by 5 cents in its most recent quarter. However, guidance was lowered with the leisurewear retailer expecting earnings of 31 cents to 33 cents a share over its next quarter, below estimates of 39 cents.

Ford (F) - Get Report was 1% lower after announcing a $1 billion investment in western India to build a new plant that will triple exports from the country. Competitor Toyota (TM) - Get Report also slipped despite news it will reduce development costs by 20% over the next five years. In line with the new plans, the cost of starting new production lives will halve.

Schlumberger (SLB) - Get Report was on watch after agreeing to pay $232.8 million for violating U.S. sanctions in Iran and Sudan, ending a 6-year investigation into the company's involvement in the two countries. The oil company had previously had outfields in both countries.

Comcast (CMCSA) - Get Report was slightly lower after pushing back the closing date of its $45 billion purchase of Time Warner Cable (TWC) . The Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department are still reviewing the deal, which Comcast believes will conclude midyear.