U.S. stocks closed mostly lower Thursday as declines in technology offset a rally in energy and financial stocks. In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing index came in at 53.2 for November, while construction spending rising 0.5 percent for October. Before the bell, initial jobless claims came in at 268,000, above an expected 253,000. In corporate news, Land's End and Dollar General both reported quarterly results before the bell. Meanwhile, Clarcor is being bought by Parker Hannifin for $4.3 billion in cash and assumed debt, or $83 per share. The dollar slipped 0.5 percent against a basket of currencies. Light sweet crude oil for January rose 3.28 percent to $51.06 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while gold futures dropped $4.50 to $1,169.40 per ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average increased 71, or 0.38 percent, to 19,195. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 7, or 0.33 percent, to 2,191. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite decreased 70, or 1.33 percent, to 5,252.
