U.S. markets close lower Thursday

NEW YORK, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. markets ended six days of gains Thursday in New York with financial firms leading the slide.

Citigroup Inc. shares dropped 2.2 percent, while Bank of America lost 2.37 percent. Ford Motor Co. fell 1.56 percent and General Electric dropped 0.82 percent.

Markets fell despite a Labor Department report revealing initial claims for jobless benefits dropped by 12,000 to 502,000 in the week ended Nov. 7. The four-week rolling average also dropped, declining by 4,500 to 524,250.

By close, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 93.79 points, 0.91 percent, to 10,197.47. The Standard & Poor's 500 shed 11.27 points, 1.03 percent, to 1,087.24. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 17.88 points, 0.83 percent, to 2,149.02.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 626 stocks advanced and 2,398 declined on a volume of 4.1 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury came off a Veterans Day bank holiday to fall 1 25/32 and yield 3.444 percent.

The euro fell to $1.4839 from Wednesday's $1.4982. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 90.37 yen from Wednesday's 89.81 yen.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index fell 0.68 percent, 67.19, to 9,804.49.

In Britain, the FTSE 100 index gained 0.19 percent, 9.75, to 5,276.50.