U.S. stocks end mildly lower following volatile trading

U.S. stocks closed slightly lower after wavering between gains and losses Thursday, as investors digested mixed news overseas.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 12.52 points, or 0.07 percent, to 17,900.10. The S&P 500 fell 2.41 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,071.92. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 5.04 points, or 0.11 percent, to 4,769.44.

Both the Dow and the S&P 500 hit fresh all-time intraday highs of 17,937.96 points and 2,077.34 points early in the session, respectively.

Overseas, European stocks dipped across the board Thursday, as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi disappointed investors by saying that the bank would consider adding new stimulus as needed until early 2015.

Offsetting negative effects from Europe to some extent, however, Chinese benchmark Shanghai Composite Index soared 4.3 percent overnight, the biggest daily gain since 2012, as capitals continued to rush to the Chinese mainland equity market which had witnessed years of dismal performance.

On the U.S. economic front, in the week ending Nov. 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims stood at 297, 000, a decrease of 17,000 from the previous week's revised level, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday. But the latest number was still higher than market expected.

Investors are also awaiting the closely-watched U.S. nonfarm payroll report for November due out Friday to better understand the improvement in the labor market and its implications for the Fed's policy.

Falling crude prices added more pressure to the stock market, especially to oil firms and oilfield services providers, with the energy sector as the biggest laggard among the S&P 500's ten sectors.

On the previous trading day, both the Dow and the S&P 500 refreshed all-time highs boosted by an optimistic Beige Book from the Federal Reserve that showed the U.S. economy continued to improve.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, edged down 0.72 percent to end at 12.38 on Thursday.

In other markets, the U.S. dollar strengthened against most major currencies but decreased against the euro as the ECB decided to wait till early next year to consider further stimulus measures.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.2365 dollars from 1.2310 dollars in the previous session. The greenback bought 119. 86 Japanese yen, higher than 119.82 yen of the previous session.

U.S. oil prices fell as traders worried that global crude supply surpassed demand.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery moved down to settle at 66.81 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell slightly as oil prices dropped, prompting a retreat from the precious metal.

The most active gold contract for February delivery lost 1 dollar, or 0.08 percent, to settle at 1207.7 dollars per ounce.