Roundup: U.S. stocks end mixed on economic data

U.S. stocks finished mixed after wavering around flatline in a narrow range Thursday, as Wall Street digested a slew of economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 5.74 points, or 0.03 percent, to 17,408.25. The S&P 500 fell 2.66 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,083.39. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 10.83 points, or 0.21 percent, to 5,033.56.

U.S. Commerce Department announced Thursday that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for July were 446. 5 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 0.6 percent from the previous month, slightly higher than market expectations.

Meanwhile, in the week ending Aug. 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 274,000, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level, according to U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

The 4-week moving average was 266,250, a decrease of 1,750 from the previous week's revised average or the lowest level since April 15, 2000.

U.S. import prices declined 0.9 percent in July, after recording no change from the previous month, the Labor Department said in another report.

In corporate news, shares of Cisco jumped 2.87 percent to 28. 70 dollars a share Thursday after posting better-than-expected quarterly results.

The network equipment maker reported net income of 2.3 billion dollars on revenue of 12.8 billion dollars for its fourth fiscal quarter ended July 25, 2015.

Overseas, Chinese equities closed higher Thursday as fears of further currency depreciation subsided following Chinese central bank's reassurance that the yuan's value has "returned to market levels " after days of sharp declines.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.76 percent to close at 3,954.56 points.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, slightly decreased 0.88 percent to end at 13.49 Thursday.

In other markets, oil prices fell as worries that global supply would surpass demand persisted.

The West Texas Intermediate for September delivery moved down 1. 07 dollars to settle at 42.23 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery decreased 44 cents to close at 49.22 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Future Exchange.

The U.S. dollar climbed against most major currencies as the better-than-expected retail sales data from the country boosted market sentiment for an interest-rate hike in September.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1135 dollars from 1.1162 dollars in the previous session, while the dollar bought 124.45 Japanese yen, higher than 124.22 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange closed lower, snapping a five-day winning streak, as the U.S. dollar rallied and global demand for the precious metal dropped.

The most active gold contract for December delivery lost 8 U.S. dollars, or 0.71 percent, to settle at 1,115.60 dollars per ounce. Endite