Roundup: U.S. stocks end lower to wrap up 2015

U.S. stocks continued to fall after volatile session on Thursday, the last trading day of 2015, as investors digested the worse-than-expected initial jobless claims.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 178.84 points, or 1.02 percent, to 17,425.03. The S&P 500 lost 19.42 points, or 0.94 percent, to 2,043.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 58.44 points, or 1.15 percent, to 5,007.41.

In the week ending Dec. 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims increased from the previous week's unrevised level of 267,000 to 287,000, well above market consensus of 270,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

The four-week moving average was 277,000, an increase of 4,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 272,500.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) also came out negative, falling 5.8 points to 42.9 in December from 48.7 in November.

Meanwhile, in a light week of economic reports, the volatility in oil prices was also in focus. Oil prices had witnessed some big swings recently as they were traded near multi-year lows.

For 2015, the Dow snapped a six-year winning streak to end 2.2 percent lower, and the S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent, while the Nasdaq advanced 5.7 percent, logging its fourth straight annual gains.

Among the S&P 500's ten sectors, consumer discretionary was the strongest sector of the year, up 8.42 percent, while the energy sector had the worst performance with a loss of 23.49 percent.

The U.S. stock markets will be closed on Friday for New Year's Day.

Overseas, China's stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index going down 0.94 percent to close at 3,529.18 points, as investors were cautious over the impending end of a six-month ban on share sales.

In Europe, German benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange was closed Thursday for New Year's Day, while British benchmark FTSE 100 Index decreased 0.51 percent in a holiday-shortened session.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, rose 5.32 percent to end at 18.21 Thursday.

In other markets, oil prices moved up Thursday amid rising geopolitical tensions in Middle East.

The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery moved up 44 cents to settle at 37.04 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for February delivery increased 82 cents to close at 37.28 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against most major currencies Thursday amid thin trading in holiday season.

In late New York trading, the euro moved down to 1.0870 dollars from 1.0924 dollars in the previous session. The dollar bought 120.18 Japanese yen, lower than 120.54 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose slightly on Thursday after a worse than expected jobless report.

The most active gold contract for March delivery edged up 0.4 dollars, or 0.04 percent, to settle at 1,060.20 dollars per ounce. Endit