U.S. stocks closed lower Thursday, as Wall Street echoed action in European markets amid unease over the crisis in Ukraine. In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department reported that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week declined by 14,000 to 289,000, and the four-week average fell to 293,500, the lowest since 2006. In international economic news, European shares fell amid media reports that had NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen urging Russia to "step back from the brink" by withdrawing troops and stopping its support of rebels in Eastern Ukraine. The European Central Bank held interest rates unchanged, as expected, with the decision coming after the ECB reduced its deposit rate below zero in June. The dollar gained against other currencies. Light sweet crude oil for September delivery rose 42 cents to $97.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures climbed $4.30 to $1,312.50 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 75.07, or 0.46 percent, to 16,368.27. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 10.67, or 0.56 percent, to 1,909.57. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 20.08, or 0.46 percent, to 4,334.97.
