U.S. stocks closed lower Thursday, while investors parsed through key U.S. economic data and digested a key European Central Bank (ECB) decision on interest rates. In U.S. economic news, existing home sales rose 3.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.47 million, their highest since June. Leading indicators for September, meanwhile, rose 0.2 percent. Weekly jobless claims rose by 13,000 to 260,000, but notched their eithy-fifth straight week coming in below 300,000, the longest period since 1970. In international economic news, the ECB kept interest rates unchanged, as was widely expected. Facing high unemployment, weak growth, and ultra-low inflation, the ECB has provided extraordinary stimulus in recent years, cutting interest rates deep into negative territory and pushing the cost of credit to all-time lows, hoping to jump start growth. In corporate news, Travelers and Verizon both posted quarterly results. Travelers beat estimates on both earnings and revenues, while Verizon missed on revenue while beating on profits. American Express reported better-than-expected results, sending its shares more than 10 percent higher. The dollar whipsawed against a basket of currencies. Light sweet crude oil for December delivery fell 2.27 percent to $50.43 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while gold futures dropped $2.30 to $1,267.60 per ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average declined 40.27, or 0.22 percent, to 18,162.35. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 2.95, or 0.14 percent, to 2,141.34. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index decreased 4.58, or 0.09 percent, to 5,241.83.
