U.S. stocks slipped Thursday on worries that Greece may be forced to leave the eurozone and mixed economic data from Washington.
Earlier this week, financial leaders in Europe agreed to work on individual contingency plans for a possible exit of Greece from the 17-member currency region, which would be an unprecedented step. After a summit meeting that ended late Wednesday, leaders failed to agree on a new proposal to create a region-wide euro bond.
The Labor Department in Washington said Thursday there were 2,000 fewer first-time jobless claims filed in the week with the total dropping to 370,000 initial claims. The Commerce Department reported durable goods orders rose 0.2 percent in April to $215.5 billion, which was short of the 0.7 percent increase economists expected.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 35.19 points, or 0.28 percent, at 12,460.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 4.19 points, or 0.32 percent, to 1,314.67. The Nasdaq Composite shed 18.00 points, 0.59 percent, to 2,833.35.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year treasury note rose to 1.77 percent.
The euro fell to $1.2573 from Wednesday's $1.2582. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 79.47 from Wednesday's 79.49 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index was flat, gaining 0.08 percent, 6.78 points, to 8,563.38.
