英语文摘：Renewed economic concerns weigh on U.S. stocks

NEW YORK, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street tumbled on Thursday, with all three major indexes falling about 1.5 percent, as renewed concerns over global economic recovery weighed on sentiment.

The Labor Department said on Thursday that the number of people filing for jobless benefits decreased by 19,000 to 457,000 in the week ended June 19. The initial claims were better than analyst had anticipated, but remained at a relatively high level.

Separately, the Commerce Department said orders for durable goods dropped by 1.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted 192.01 billion dollars, falling short of market expectation.

Stocks seemed to be pressured by renewed economic uncertainty after the Federal Reserve became more cautious about the U.S. economic recovery in its latest statement.

The Fed said on Wednesday that the economic recovery is " proceeding," which was not as positive as the view at the April meeting when the Fed said economic activity continued to " strengthen." In addition, the central bank also indicated the debt problem in Europe posed a risk to U.S. economy.

The dollar also took a hit by the Fed's less upbeat U.S. outlook, with the euro advanced to 1.2332 dollars in late New York trading. However, the euro's gains was capped as worries over Greece still hung over the euro zone as the cost of protecting its government debt against default hit a record high.

On commodities market, crude oil for August delivery achieved a modest gain after a late-session surge erased sharp early losses, supported by a strong euro. Light, sweet crude for August delivery settled 16 cents higher, at 76.51 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, August Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled up 20 cents, to 76.47 dollars a barrel.

As of Thursday's close, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 145.64 points, or 1.41 percent, to 10,152.80. The Standard & Poor' s 500 index dropped 18.35 points, or 1.68 percent, to 1,073.69 and the Nasdaq tumbled 36.81, or 1.63 percent, to 2,217.42.