Stocks Closed Sharply Lower

U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday, amid mixed economic data, including weekly jobless claims, consumer prices, manufacturing and industrial production. Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 167.16 points, or 1.01%, at 16,446.81. The S&P 500 fell 17.68 points, or 0.94%, to 1,870.85.  The Nasdaq Composite was down 31.33 points, or 0.76%, at 4,069.29.

J.C. Penney Co. (JCP) reported a better-than-expected 6.2% same-store sales gain. The company said its loss widened slightly to $352 million from $348 million. Per-share loss fell to $1.15 from $1.58 a share after an increase in its shares outstanding. Sales rose to $2.8 billion from $2.64 billion.

Private-equity firm Blackstone Group LP has agreed to pay $1.7 billion to Deutsche Bank for The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, the glimmering but struggling 3,000-room hotel and casino on the Strip,
Deutsche Bank said on Thursday.