The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 29.79 points, or 0.08 percent, to 35,897.64. The S&P 500 decreased 41.18 points, or 0.87 percent, to 4,668.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 385.15 points, or 2.47 percent, to 15,180.43.
Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with financials up 1.21 percent, leading the gainers. Technology slumped 2.86 percent, the worst-performing group.
U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly lower with eight of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.
Traders continued to digest the latest statement from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The Fed said on Wednesday they would double their taper pace in January from a 15 billion U.S. dollars bond-buying reduction each month, to a 30 billion dollars reduction, accelerating their likely exit from quantitative easing in mid-March next year rather than the June end date that was previously expected.
The announcement also indicated it would raise interest rates more aggressively to combat high U.S. inflation.
On the economic front, U.S. initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, stood at 206,000 in the week ending Dec. 11, an increase of 18,000 from the prior week's revised level, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday.
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