U.S. stocks fall as profit taking marks quiet session; Dow down 0.17%

U.S. stocks fell in a lackluster session on Thursday after investors locked in gains stemming from expectations the Federal Reserve will keep policy loose even if it tinkers its bond-buying program this month.

At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.17%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.34%, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 0.24%.

Sentiments have grown recently that even if Federal Reserve announces plans to taper its USD85 billion monthly asset purchases at its Sept. 17-18 meeting, adjustments will likely be slight, which has given stocks room to rise until profit taking kicked in on Thursday.

Fed asset purchases, which include Treasury holdings and mortgage debt, spur recovery by driving down long-term interest rates, which are bullish for stocks.

Elsewhere, the Department of Labor reported earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless claims in the U.S. fell by 31,000 to 292,000 from 323,000 in the previous week.

Analysts were expecting the number to rise by 7,000 to 330,000, though the report said the decline was largely due to two states not processing all of their claims because of computer upgrades.

Investors also avoided stocks to track diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Russia over disarming Moscow ally Syria.

Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Walt Disney, up 2.47%, Verizon, up 1.81%, and AT&T, up 1.21%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included JPMorgan Chase, down 1.90%, Hewlett-Packard, down 1.35%, and DuPont, down 1.31%.

European indices, meanwhile, finished largely lower

After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.09%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.30%, while Germany's DAX 30 finished fell 0.02%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 finished up 0.01%.

On Friday, the U.S. will release data on retail sales, producer price inflation and preliminary data from the University of Michigan on consumer sentiment.