Stocks End Lower; S&P 500 Slides Below 2,000

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks finished lower on Thursday, with the S&P 500 snapping a three-session win streak to end below 2,000.

The optimism that has recently driven the major averages to strong gains was never present today despite a better-than-expected reading on second quarter GDP.

Revised figures announced by the U.S. Commerce Department showed that Gross Domestic Product, a broad measure of economic activity, rose by 4.2 percent in the April-to-June period.

Stocks wobbled throughout the session amid heightened expectations that the Federal Reserve may hike rates sooner than forecast.

Geopolitical tensions and economic weakness in Europe also had investors on edge.

Ukraine's government has accused Russia of invading the country along its south-eastern border.

"Recent Russian actions clearly demonstrate that Moscow is bluntly drawing Ukraine and the entire world into a full-scale war," Ukraine's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 42.44 points, or 0.3 percent, at 17,079.57.

The S&P 500 lost 3.38 points, or 0.2 percent, at 1,996.74, falling from record highs above 2,000 thanks to weakness in the financial sector.

The Nasdaq declined 11.93 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,557.69.

Visa Inc.(V) led losses among blue-chip stocks, falling 1.2% after a downgrade from Raymond James.

Dollar General Corp. (DG) reported a rise in second-quarter earnings per share to 83 cents a share from 75 cents in the same period last year. Shares added 0.7 percent.

Williams-Sonoma Inc. (WSM) shares plunged 12 percent. The cookware maker issued a gloomy forecast for the current quarter, short of Wall Street expectations.

In economic news, the number of Americans filing first-time unemployment benefits edged down last week.

A report issued by the U.S. Department of Labor showed that initial jobless claims, a key gauge of layoff activity, came in at 298,000 for the week ended August 23. This was down by 1,000 compared to the previous week's revised total of 299,000.

German unemployment unexpectedly rose in August as the euro zone's largest economy continued to show signs of strain. The number of people out of work climbed a seasonally adjusted 2,000 to 2.901 million in August, official data showed.

Meanwhile, euro zone economic confidence weakened more-than-expected in August to its lowest level in eight months.