US stocks close lower; Nasdaq down 1.7%

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Major indices on the US stock market closed lower Thursday despite jobless claims falling again to their lowest level since 1969.

The Dow saw little change, falling 0.06 points to 35,754.

The S&P 500 lost 33 points, or 0.72%, to 4,667.

And the Nasdaq plummeted almost 270 points, or 1.71%, to 15,517 -- its largest daily decline for the week.

After climbing above 30 twice last week, the VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, was up again by 8.4% to 21.58.

The dollar index gained 0.35% to 96.23 but the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes fell 1% to 1.494%.

Precious metals were down with gold losing 0.44% to $1,775 per ounce and silver falling 2.1% to $21.95.

Crude prices fell more than 2.5% with Brent crude trading at $73.89 per barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude at $70.47.

The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims fell 43,000 to 184,000 last week, hovering below its pre-pandemic level, according to the Labor Department.

The figure is the ninth consecutive week below 300,000 and "the lowest level for initial claims since September 6, 1969, when it was 182,000," it said.