AlHijjah 23, 1435, Oct 17, 2014, SPA -- U.S. stocks ended mixed Thursday, as a government report showed that unemployment benefits fell to a 14-year low last week. In world markets, Asian markets ended lower, with the Nikkei in Japan falling 2.22 percent. European markets also ended lower, with the FTSE 100 in England falling 0.83 percent. In economic news, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell 23,000 to 264,000, its lowest level since 2000. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo reported that its index fell to a reading of 54 after climbing to 59 in September. Meanwhile, output at U.S. factories, utilities, and mines surged 1 percent last month after declining 0.2 percent in August, the Federal Reserve said. The dollar fell versus the Yen and the Euro, but rose versus the Pound. Light sweet crude oil for November delivery rose to $82.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures fell to $1,240.40 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 24.5, or 0.2 percent, to 16,117.24. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.27, or 0.01 percent, to 1,862.76. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 2.07, or 0.1 percent, to 4,217.39.