Market rally stalls after weak jobs report

NEW YORK, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes closed lower Thursday after the Labor Department said first-time unemployment benefit claims rose in the week that ended Saturday.

With a four-week stock rally on the line, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.36 percent or 49.84 points to 13,860.58 by close of trading. The Nasdaq composite of tech-oriented stocks shed 0.18 points or 0.01 percent to 3,142.13. The Standard and Poor's 500 index lost 3.85 points or 0.26 percent to 1,498.11.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,575 stocks advanced and 1,463 declined on a volume of 3.9 billion shares traded.

The 10-year treasury note rose 1/32 to yield 1.99 percent.

Against the dollar, the euro rose to $1.3586 from Wednesday's $1.3567. The dollar rose to 91.76 yen from Wednesday's 91.09 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index added 0.22 percent, 24.71 points, to 11,138.66.

In London, the FTSE 100 index shed 0.73 percent, 46.23 points, to 6,276.88.