The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 90.22 points, or 0.3 percent, to 30,333.59. The S&P 500 lost 29.38 points, or 0.8 percent, to 3,665.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 65.67 points, or 0.61 percent, to 10,614.84.
Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with utilities and industrials down 2.51 percent and 1.91 percent, respectively, leading the laggards. Communication services rose 0.36 percent, the best-performing group.
The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury continued its climb to top 4.2 percent on Thursday, the highest level in more than a decade. The yield on the policy-sensitive 2-year Treasury note also advanced.
The equity markets have usually moved negatively with bond yields, as higher bond yields would make equity investments less attractive.
Investors also parsed newly-released data to assess the shape of the economy.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that the nation's initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, fell by 12,000 to 214,000 in the week ending Oct. 15. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast new claims to total 230,000.
New York-based The Conference Board said the U.S. leading economic index dropped 0.4 percent in September and its persistent downward trajectory in recent months suggested "a recession is increasingly likely before yearend."
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