1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks plunge amid global rout, mixed data

U.S. stocks plummeted amid mixed economic reports Thursday, as a broad-based sell-off around the world triggered worries about a slowdown in global growth.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 358.04 points, or 2.06 percent, to 16,990.69. The S&P 500 dropped 43.88 points, or 2.11 percent, to 2,035.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index slumped 141.56 points, or 2.82 percent, to 4,877.49.

European equities ended sharply lower on Thursday as concerns about the world economic growth persisted, with Germany's benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange tumbling 2.34 percent.

In Asia, following a short rebound from sharp fall on Wednesday, Chinese shares dived again on Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropping 3.42 percent, mainly due to lack of confidence on the part of investors.

On the economic front, in the week ending Aug. 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims increased 4,000 from the previous week's revised level to 277,000, exceeding market consensus of 270,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

The four-week moving average was 271,500, an increase of 5,500 from the previous week's revised average.

U.S. total existing-home sales increased 2.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.59 million in July from a downwardly revised 5.48 million in June, beating market estimates, said the National Association of Realtors Thursday.

Sales in July remained at the highest pace since February 2007, a year-over-year rise for ten consecutive months.

"The housing market remains on solid footing, and is likely to be a glimmer of good data for the Fed ahead of the September meeting," said Sophia Kearney-Lederman, an economic analyst at FTN Financial, in a note.

Meanwhile, as there is no Federal Reserve policy meeting in August, investors were still sifting through the closely-watched minutes from the Fed's July meeting released Wednesday afternoon.

According to the minutes, most U.S. Fed officials believed conditions for tightening monetary policy were approaching, but they failed to give clear signals on the timing of the first interest rate hike in nearly nine years.

Market analysts widely see September or even later as the most likely time for a Fed rate increase. Endit