U.S. stocks ended lower on Thursday, as the country reported an annual economic growth of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, slower than the previous quarter, and investors digested a mixed slew of other economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 69.16 points, or 0.27 percent, to 25,916.00. The S&P 500 was down 7.89 points, or 0.28 percent, to 2,784.49. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 21.98 points, or 0.29 percent, to 7,532.53.
Shares of Celgene dropped nearly 8.7 percent at market close, after an intended acquisition of the U.S. biotech firm by pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb met objection from two major shareholders.
Shares of JC Penney extended solid gains throughout the day, up nearly 22.6 percent, after the U.S. retailer reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.
The company previously announced it would shut down 18 full-line stores in 2019.
Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors traded on a downbeat note around market close, with the materials sector down nearly 1.3 percent.
On the economic front, although U.S. fourth-quarter economic growth exceeded the forecasts of analysts surveyed by Dow Jones, the 2.6 percent reading was still lower than the 3.4 percent reported in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
The quarterly growth number came as consumer spending growth declined to 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter, down from the previous quarter's 3.5 percent. Consumer spending accounts for roughly two thirds of the overall U.S. economy.
In contrast, exports rose by 1.6 percent in the fourth quarter, rebounding from a decline of 4.9 percent in the third quarter. Nonresidential fixed investment also increased 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter, up from a 2.5-percent rise in the third.
U.S. weekly jobless claims, or the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits, sharply rose 8,000 to 225,000 in the week ending Feb. 23, the Labor Department said Thursday.
The four-week moving average was 229,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised average, which is, however, still higher than January's levels.
The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), also known as Chicago Business Barometer, rose sharply in February, as new orders registered a double-digit increase.
The index accelerated to 64.7 in February, up 8 points from January's 56.7, marking the highest since December 2017, according to a statement released Thursday by the Institute for Supply Management Chicago.