NEW YORK, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed lower on Thursday as investors digested weaker-than-expected economic data while closely monitoring the progress of China-U.S. trade talks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 103.81 points, or 0.40 percent, to 25,850.63. The S&P 500 decreased 9.82 points, or 0.35 percent, to 2,774.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 29.36 points, or 0.39 percent, to 7,459.71.
U.S. existing home sales dropped 1.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million units in January, the lowest level in more than three years, said the National Association of Realtors on Thursday. The drop in January came after months of weakness in the U.S. housing market.
Meanwhile, durable goods orders for December rose 1.2 percent to 254.4 billion U.S. dollars, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. The department also said core capital goods orders fell 0.7 percent.
The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, but the four-week moving average rose to a more than one-year high, pointing to a slowing labor market.
In the week ending Feb. 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 216,000, a decrease of 23,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 239,000, according to the Labor Department.
The four-week moving average was 235,750, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 231,750. This is the highest level for this average since Jan. 20, 2018 when it was 237,500. Enditem
