U.S. stocks dip on Capitol shooting, shutdown jitters; Dow down 0.90%

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday after a shooting took place near Capitol Hill, which rattled nerves even though the event appeared to be an isolated incident.

A government shutdown entered its third day on Thursday, which also soured investors' appetite for stocks as did lukewarm U.S. data.

At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.90%, the S&P 500 index also fell 0.90%, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 1.07%.

A woman reportedly driving a car with a child who tried to break through a barrier near the White House was reportedly killed near the Capitol in a police chase shortly afterwards.

The incidient involved multiple gunshots.

Stocks dropped amid concerns that the incident took place during a government shutdown, and while the shooting appeared to be an isolated event, prices remained lower as calm returned to Washington.

Elsewhere, the Institute of Supply Management reported that its non-manufacturing purchasing manager's index fell to a three-month low of 54.4 in September from 58.6 in August. 

Analysts were expecting the index to decline to 57.4 last month. 

Separately, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Sept. 28 rose by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 308,000, better than analysts' calls for jobless claims to rise by 6,000 to 313,000 last week. 

Jobless claims for the preceding week were revised up to a gain of 307,000 from a previously reported increase of 305,000. 

An ongoing U.S. government shutdown continued to dampen stock prices.

President Barack Obama met with Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress on Wednesday, although a solution still seemed unlikely though House speaker John Boehner did say earlier the U.S. will not default on its debts.

Markets continued to fret the political deadlock will affect negotiations to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, which the U.S. Treasury Department has estimated will be reached by Oct. 17.

Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Verizon, up 0.47%, Merck, which was unchanged, and UnitedHealth Group, which was down 0.07%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included Boeing, down 2.18%, Chevron, down 2.12%, and DuPont, down 2.07%.

European indices, meanwhile, finished largely lower.

After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.58%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.73%, while Germany's DAX 30 fell 0.37%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 finished up 0.18%.