U.S. stocks closed lower Thursday with the Standard & Poor's 500 dropping below 1,400, ahead of the central bank's Jackson Hole meeting.

The graphic shows the major indices of US and European stock markets

drop on Aug. 30, 2012.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 106.77 points, or 0.81 percent, to 13,000.71. It was in negative territory for the month.

The Standard & Poor's 500 was down 11.01 points, or 0.78 percent, to 1,399.48 and the Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 32.48 points, or 1.05 percent, to 3,048.71.

The CBOE Volatility Index, widely known as the best gauge of market fear, climbed to near 18.

Investors remained cautious on Thursday before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gives a speech on Friday at the Fed's annual meeting in Jackson Hole.

On the economic front, the Labor Department said the number of people initially applying for unemployment benefits was unchanged at 374,000 last week. The figure did nothing to calm concerns about the job market among investors, who had been expecting the number to fall.

Also adding to the concerns, German unemployment rose for a fifth consecutive month, increasing by 9,000 to 2.9 million. The jobless rate remained unchanged at 6.8 percent.

Meanwhile, Italy sold about 4.8 billion euros (6 billion U.S. dollars) in five and 10-year notes, with the 10-year paper pricing to yield 5.82 percent.

The sale indicated modest investor confidence in the region.

As for other markets, U.S. crude prices fell on Thursday for a second consecutive day as concerns over Hurricane Isaac faded.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery lost 87 cents, or 0.91 percent, to settle at 94.62 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. But in London, Brent crude for October delivery edged up 11 cents, or 0.10 percent to close at 112.65 dollars a barrel.

The U.S. dollar rose against most major currencies in late New York trading on Thursday as the European debt crisis again worried investors and weighed on the euro. The dollar index rose 0.149 to 81.713.

 VietNamNet/Xinhuanet