(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US Stocks finished lower on Thursday after three day rally. Economic Data and Housing and Manufacturing report did little to spark another bullish day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7.79 points or 0.08% to finish at 9,783.92. The S&P 500 lost 3.27 points or 0.31% to end at 1,065.49. The Nasdaq Composite decreased 6.40 points or 0.30% to 2,126.75.
A Department of Commerce release on Tuesday showed housing starts jumped 1.5% in August to seasonally adjusted annual rate of 598,000. Building Permits rose 2.7% to annual rate of 579,000. Economists had projected Housing Starts to increase to an annual rate of 583,000 and building permits to rise to 598,000 in August.
A release by Department of Labor on Thursday showed number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits fell 12,000 to 545,00 in the week ending September 12. Economists expected jobless claims to rise to 598,000. The four-week average of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims, a less volatile gauge, decreased 8,750 to 563,000. Continuing claims for the week ending September 5 rose 129,000 to 6.23 million.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:
VZ) plunged 90 cents or 2.96% to $29.51.
Alcoa (NYSE:
AA), the largest US aluminum maker, lost 42 cents or 2.90% to $14.05.
Shares of American Express Co. (NYSE:
AXP) tumbled 84 cents or 2.34% to $35.
Among gainers, Bank of America (NYSE:
BAC) rose 36 cents or 2.09% to $17.61.
Equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:
CAT) jumped $1.27 or 2.41% to $53.88.
Early on Thursday, FedEx Corp.
