Stocks Ended Lower amid Soft Economic Data

U.S. stocks ended lower on Thursday as new economic data pointed to weakness in the manufacturing sector and softening labor market trends. The Dow Industrial Average fell 103.81 points, or 0.40%, to 25,850.63. The S&P 500 was down 9.82 points, or 0.35%, to 2,774.88. The Nasdaq Composite declined 29.36 points, or 0.39%, to 7,459.71.

Crude-oil futures finished lower Thursday after a U.S. government report revealed that domestic supplies climbed for a fifth straight week as production jumped to a record level. April West Texas Intermediate crude lost 20 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $56.96 a barrel. April Brent was little changed, inching lower by a penny to end at $67.07 a barrel.

U.S. economic data were mixed with durable-goods orders rising 1.2% in December. Outside of orders for airplanes and automobiles, orders rose just 0.1%. Meanwhile, a key measure of business investment, known as core orders, slipped 0.7% in December.

Manufacturing activity declined in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey in February, for the first time since May of 2016, according to the Philly Fed manufacturing index. The index fell to a seasonally adjusted reading of -4.1 from 17 in January.

Jobless claims fell by 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 216,000 in the seven days ended Feb. 16, the government said Thursday.