U.S. stocks close lower amid trade tensions

NEW YORK, May 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed lower on Thursday as renewed trade tensions kept the market on edge.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 251.94 points, or 1.02 percent, to 24,415.84. The S&P 500 was down 18.74 points, or 0.69 percent, to 2,705.27. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 20.34 points, or 0.27 percent, to 7,442.12.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Thursday that the country will impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the European Union (EU), Canada and Mexico starting Friday.

On the economic front, in the week ending May 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 221,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 234,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

The four-week moving average was 222,250, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 219,750.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said U.S. personal income increased by 49.5 billion U.S. dollars, or 0.3 percent in April. Disposable personal income increased 60.9 billion dollars, or 0.4 percent, and personal consumption expenditures increased 79.8 billion dollars, or 0.6 percent.

In corporate news, shares of General Motors soared 12.87 percent to close at 42.70 dollars apiece after the company said the SoftBank Vision Fund will invest 2.25 billion dollars in GM Cruise Holdings LLC, the carmaker's autonomous vehicle unit. Enditem