U.S. markets slide Thursday

NEW YORK, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. markets were down Thursday, despite leading indicators rising slightly in October.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims were unchanged in the week ending Nov. 14. After three consecutive weeks of declines, the department said 505,000 initial unemployment claims were filed, equal to the revised figure for the previous week.

The Conference Board in New York said the leading indicator for the U.S. economy rose 0.3 percent in October, the seventh consecutive month of gains.

By close, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 93.87 points or 0.9 percent to 10,332.44. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 14.90 or 1.34 percent to 1,094.90. The Nasdaq composite index lost 36.32 or 1.66 percent to 2,156.82.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 572 stocks rose and 2,480 declined on a volume of 4.1 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bill rose 6/32 to yield 3.343 percent.

The euro fell to $1.4918 from Wednesday's $1.496. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 89.03 yen from Wednesday's 89.37 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 1.32 percent, 127.33, to 9,549.47.

In London, the FTSE 100 index lost 1.39 percent, 74.43, to 5,267.70.