U.S. stocks fell Thursday as worries about the global economy grew despite better-than expected government reports economic growth and unemployment. Although all three major indexes fell Thursday, stocks ended September with strong gains. The Dow jumped over 7 percent, the S&P 500 rose over 8 percent, and the Nasdaq rose over 12 percent. The Commerce Department released its final reading on second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP), raising it to 1.7 percent from the previously reported 1.6 percent. Meanwhile, the number of Americans filing for unemployment insurance decreased to 453,000 last week, according to the U.S. Labor Department. The figure was slightly higher than the 457,000 jobless claims economists expected. Investors also worried about AIG's plan to repay taxpayers. AIG took a major step toward repaying its government aid Thursday. The insurer plans to sell its Japan-based units for $4.8 billion to make up for some of the paybacks. Shares of AIG gained over 3 percent Thursday. Late Wednesday, U.S. Congress passed legislation to impose tariffs on Beijing for deliberately undervaluing its currency, the yuan, therefore keeping Chinese export prices cheap. The U.S. dollar rose against the euro but fell versus the yen. Light sweet crude oil for November delivery gained $1.77 to $79.63 a barrel. Gold futures fell $2.30 to $1,308 an ounce after several sessions of record highs. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 47.23, or 0.4 percent, to 10,788.05. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.53, or 0.3 percent, to 1,141.20. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 7.94, or 0.3 percent, to 2,368.62.
