NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks pared part of early losses to end mildly lower on Thursday, as Wall Street pondered over impacts of renewed worries about Greece debt crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 36.87 points, or 0.20 percent, to 18,126.12. The S&P 500 decreased 2.69 points, or0.13 percent, to 2,120.79. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 8.62 points, or 0.17 percent, to 5,097.98.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras expressed optimism Wednesday that Greece and its creditors were close to reaching a deal on the future handling of the Greek debt crisis after four months of tough negotiations.
However, European officials on Thursday denied a deal was near, saying the two sides still had some way to go before any agreement could be concluded and they were surprised by Athens' upbeat tone.
On June 5 Greece needs to repay a 300-million-euro-loan installment to the International Monetary Fund, after paying pensions and salaries to public servants this week.
European shares largely declined on Thursday as Greek hopes faded, with German benchmark DAX index at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange falling 0.79 percent.
In Asia, Chinese Shanghai Composite Index plummeted 6.5 percent Thursday on profit-taking and liquidity concerns after eight consecutive days of strong gains.
On the economic front, in the week ending May 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 282,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level, exceeding market consensus, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, increased 3.4 percent to 112.4 in April, its highest level since May 2006, reported the National Association of Realtors Thursday.
In corporate news, Costco reported quarterly earnings of 1.17 U. S. dollar per diluted share, above estimates, though revenue and comparable store sales were below forecasts. Analysts said the warehouse retailer faced headwinds from lower gas prices and a stronger dollar. Its shares fell 0.80 percent to 144.26 dollars apiece Thursday.
The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, edged up 0.30 percent to end at 13.31 Thursday.
In other markets, oil prices gained Thursday as government data showed that U.S. inventories dropped last week.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery moved up 17 cents to settle at 57.68 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for July delivery increased 52 cents to close at62.58 dollars a barrel.
The U.S. dollar traded mixed against other currencies Thursday amid mixed economic data.
In late New York trading, the euro moved up to 1.0957 dollars from 1.0890 dollars in the previous session. The greenback bought123.89 Japanese yen, higher than 123.84 yen of the previous session.
Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rebounded slightly on Thursday after a 4-session loss.
The most active gold contract for August delivery rose 2.3 dollars, or 0.19 percent, to settle at 1,188.80 dollars per ounce. Enditem
