U.S. stocks ended lower on Thursday, with the Nasdaq snapping four-day winning streak, as investors mainly digested weekly jobless claims and a decision from the European Central Bank (ECB).
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 46.37 points, or 0.25 percent, to 18,479.77. The S&P 500 lost 4.87 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,181.29.
The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 24.44 points, or 0.46 percent, to 5,259.48.
The ECB has kept interest rates unchanged and maintained its quantitative easing program, media reported on Thursday.
On the economic front in the United States, in the week ending Sept. 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 259,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 263,000, the Labor Department announced Thursday.
The 4-week moving average was 261,250, a decrease of 1,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 263,000. Newly-released data, including nonfarm payrolls report last week, has been in focus recently, with investors pondering over when the U.S. Federal Reserve will decide to raise interest rates.
The Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's monetary policy arm, is set to meet on Sept. 20-21.
The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, rose 4.77 percent to end at 12.51 on Thursday.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, inched up 0.08 percent at 95.029 in late trading. In corporate news, Apple shares was down 2.62 percent on Thursday, a day after the company unveiled its iPhone 7 at an event in San Francisco.
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