Wall street closing lower on Thursday

U.S. stocks ended lower on Thursday, as good economic news is once again putting pressure on the stock market. In world markets, European markets edged lower after the European Central Bank and the Bank of England both voted to hold interest rates steady, while Asian markets ended mostly lower. In U.S. economic news, the government revised its initial report on third-quarter economic growth to 3.6 percent, up from the previous estimate of 2.8 percent. Meanwhile, the number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, the Labor Department said. The Commerce Department reported factory orders falling 0.9 percent in October, following a 1.8 percent gain the previous month. Much of the October decline was due to a steep drop in orders for aircraft, the department said. The dollar gained versus the Pound, but lost ground to the Yen and the Euro. Light sweet crude oil for January delivery rose to $97.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures fell to $1,225.50 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 68.26, or 0.4 percent, to 15,821.51. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 7.78, or 0.4 percent, to 1,785.03. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 4.83, or 0.1 percent, to 4,033.17. --SPA