U.S. stocks slid Thursday, with both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite Index on an eight-session losing streak, as worries over the U.S. presidential election weighed on the market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 28.97 points, or 0.16 percent, to 17,930.67. The S&P 500 lost 9.28 points, or 0.44 percent, to 2,088.66.
The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 47.16 points, or 0.92 percent, to 5,058.41.
Analysts thought the White House race continued to be a key factor of the stock market.
Investors became nervous and cautious amid uncertainties about market reactions to the outcome of the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 8.
"The election in five days will not affect the Fed's near-term policy decisions. It will have some effect longer-run, however, not least because two vacancies on the Fed board will be filled by the next President," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial.
On the economic front, in the week ending Oct. 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 265,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 258,000, according to the U.S. Labor Department Thursday. The 4-week moving average was 257,750, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 253,000.
The Non-Manufacturing Index, which measures activity in the U.S. service sector, registered 54.8 percent in October, 2.3 percentage points lower than the September reading and well below market consensus, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said in its monthly survey.
In corporate news, shares of Facebook, Inc. slumped 5.68 percent to 119.95 U.S. dollars apiece Thursday after the U.S. tech giant warned growth rates for its advertising revenue will "come down meaningfully." Meanwhile, Wall Street still sifting through the Federal Reserve's decision to leave interest rates unchanged Wednesday.
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