U.S. stocks closed lower Thursday, as investors dialed back concern that came with indications of trouble one of Portugal's top banks. In U.S. economic news, applications for jobless benefits last week fell by 11,000 to a better-than-expected 304,000. Wholesale inventories climbed 0.5 percent in May, pointing to a rebound in second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP). In international economic news, Espirito Santo Financial Group, the biggest stakeholder in Portugal's Banco Espirito Santo, suspended trading in its shares and bonds, citing "material difficulties" at parent ESI. In corporate news, Home Depot fell along with other home-improvement retailers after Lumber Liquidators Holdings cut its earnings outlook for the year. The dollar rose against currencies of major U.S. trading partners. Light sweet crude oil for August delivery gained 64 cents to $102.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures jumped $14.90 to $1,339.20 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 70.54, or 0.42 percent, to 16,915.07. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 8.15, or 0.41 percent, to 1,964.68. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index declined 22.83, or 0.52 percent, to 4,396.20.
