World Stocks Drop After US Jobless News

PAN PYLAS

LONDON (AP) — European and U.S. stock markets fell Thursday after disappointing U.S. jobless claims data offset any cheer generated by upbeat earnings from technology firm Apple Inc. and Swiss bank Credit Suisse AG.

The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 12.43 points, or 0.3 percent, at 4,018.23, while France's CAC-40 fell 16.62 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,008.62. Germany's DAX was 56.21 points, or 1.2 percent, lower at 4,538.21.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was down 74.55 points, or 1 percent, at 7,812.02, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 7.21 points, or 0.9 percent, to 836.34.

Optimism in the markets had been elevated in the run-up to the U.S. open by the news that iPhone sales helped lift first quarter profit at Apple by a higher than anticipated 15 percent, but that dried up after the Labor Department reported that new U.S. jobless claims rose to 640,000 last week, above analysts' expectations of 635,000.

Corporate news elsewhere in the U.S. was mixed. Though eBay Inc., defense contractor Raytheon Co. and PNC Financial Services, did better than expected, UPS Inc., the world's largest shipping carrier, and cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc. delivered lower than anticipated earnings.