U.S. stocks closed lower Thursday, with information technology leading decliners. In U.S. economic news, initial jobless claims came in at 265,000, above a consensus estimate of 258,000. Also, the preliminary read on third-quarter productivity showed an increase of 3.1 percent, well above the expected rise of 2 percent. Other data included the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) non-manufacturing index for October, which came in below expectations. Factory orders, meanwhile, rose for a third straight month. In international economic news, a British High Court ruling said that parliament would have to approve the invocation of Article 50, which would trigger the Brexit process. In corporate news, Chesapeake was among the firms reporting results before the bell. Social media giant Facebook posted better-than-expected results Wednesday after the close. That said the stock fell 5.8 percent in afternoon trade Thursday, as the firm indicated its ad load could "come down meaningfully" next year. The dollar traded lower against a basket of currencies. Light sweet crude oil for December delivery fell 1.5 percent to $44.66 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while gold futures dropped $4.90 to $1,303.30 per ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 41.91, or 0.23 percent, to 17,917.73. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 10.97, or 0.53 percent, to 2,086.81. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 50.38, or 0.99 percent, to 5,055.43.
