How major US stock indexes fared Thursday

Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Thursday as more discouraging data on jobless claims and higher bond yields gave investors little reason to keep pushing the market higher.

The government reported that applications for jobless benefits rose last week to 861,000 as layoffs remained high. Walmart slumped after reporting weaker results than analysts were expecting.

On Thursday:

The S&P 500 fell 17.36 points, or 0.4%, to 3,913.97.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 119.68 points, or 0.4%, to 31,493.34.

The Nasdaq fell 100.14 points, or 0.7%, to 13,865.36.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 37.72 points, or 1.7%, to 2,218.39.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is down 20.86 points, or 0.5%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 34.94 points, or 0.1%.

The Nasdaq is down 230.12 points, or 1.6%.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies is down 70.97 points, or 3.1%.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 157.90 points, or 4.2%.

The Dow is up 886.86 points, or 2.9%.

The Nasdaq is up 977.07 points, or 7.6%.

The Russell 2000 is up 243.53 points, or 12.3%.