U.S. STOCKS, BOND MARKETS

Actions by central bankers to juice the global economy failed to excite investors Thursday, while signs of hope on the U.S. jobs front also weren't enough to push stocks higher.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index dropped 6.44 points, or 0.5%, to 1367.58, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 47.15 points, or 0.4%, to 12896.67.

The S&P 500 closed lower for first time in four sessions, capping its biggest three-session rally of the year. Financial stocks were the worst performing of the S&P 500's 10 sectors, as J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America both declined more than 3%.

Consumer discretionary stocks were a point of strength after retailers reported June sales figures. Ross Stores, Limited Brands and TJX all rose more than 3.7%. Kohl's reported a bigger-than-expected drop in comparable-store sales, but its shares jumped 6.3% after the company's chief executive said he was encouraged by improved sales in the second half of last month.

The Nasdaq Composite ended essentially flat, up 0.04 point at 2976.12. Netflix surged 13%, padding Tuesday's gains which came after Chief Executive Reed Hastings said Netflix customers streamed more than 1 billion hours of video last month.

Most U.S. stocks fell despite two positive reports from the U.S. jobs market. Data on private-sector job growth in June handily topped estimates.

The report, created by Automatic Data Processing and Macroeconomic Advisers, is seen as a preview to the closely watched monthly government employment report due Friday from the Labor Department.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expect Friday's jobs report to show that the economy added 100,000 jobs in June. The unemployment rate is forecast to hold steady at 8.2%. In other U.S. economic news, the number of U.S. workers filing for jobless benefits declined last week, and the U.S. services sector slowed more than expected in June.

EUROPEAN STOCKS, BOND MARKETS

A trio of global central banks took action before Thursday's opening bell. The European Central Bank lowered its benchmark lending rate, as expected.

The Bank of England kept its key rate unchanged, but increased stimulus measures by boosting the size of its bond-buying program. And China's central bank lowered interest rates for the second time in less than a month. Initial enthusiasm for the central bank moves faded quickly.

Strategists suggested that many investors already had factored in the potential for rate cuts, particularly from the ECB. Some investors expressed disappointment that the ECB stopped short of signaling additional stimulus on top of rate cuts. Others focused on the flagging economic growth that spurred central banks to action.

European stocks ended lower Thursday, failing to find support from monetary stimulus measures from central banks in Europe and China after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi warned that risks to the economic outlook remain tilted to the downside.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.2% to close at 256.93. Jarring markets were signs that the central bank won't be open to more innovative measures to help out debt markets in Spain and Italy.

Stocks in those countries bore the brunt of selling, which focused on banks BBVA SA dropped 4.6% in Madrid and UniCredit SpA tumbled more than 5% in Milan as well as oil and pharmaceutical shares.

The ECB was among several to announce action Thursday, cutting its refinance rate by 25 basis points to a record low of 0.75%. It also cut the deposit rate on money parked by banks at the ECB to zero from 0.25% and lowered the rate on its marginal lending facility to 1.5% from 1.75%.

The Bank of England kept rates on hold, but boosted its quantitative-easing program by 50 billion pounds. And almost at the same time, the People's Bank of China cut interest rates.

Some commentators said that the central-bank action Thursday was potentially a sign that the global recession was deepening. Spain's IBEX 35 index sank 3% to 6,954.20 as banks tumbled.

The yield on Spain's 10-year government bond soared 39 basis points to 6.74%, according to Tradeweb. Yields were moving up earlier even as the Spanish government sold EUR3 billion of bonds with maturities of three, five and 10 years, hitting the top of its target range.

Italy was also feeling the pain, with the FTSE MIB index down 2% to 14,088.74, led by a swathe of banks.

Losses for energy stocks also weighed on markets as oil prices struggled. In Spain, Repsol SA tumbled 3.2% and in Italy, Enel SpA fell more than 3%.

The French CAC 40 index closed 1.2% lower at 3,229.36 as Total SA dropped 1.1%. BNP Paribas SA fell 2%. Autos were among those holding the line on gains, however, with shares of Volkswagen AG jumping more than 5% after it said it would take over in August the portion of Porsche Automobil Holding SE that it doesn't already own.

Porsche shares fell 1.2%. Gains for Volkswagen helped the German DAX 30 index keep bigger losses at bay. The index declined 0.5% to 6,535.56.

Fellow auto maker Daimler AG fell 1.3%. Miners stayed firmer in London, helping that index to buck the losing trend across Europe. The FTSE 100 index rose 0.1% to 5,692.63. Shares of Anglo American PLC rose 1.1%. Xstrata PLC added 3% after saying it will seek to adjourn holder meetings to approve its merger with Glencore International PLC, shares of which gained 1.1%.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS

Most Asian markets fell Thursday on profit-taking after recent gains, with Chinese stocks suffering a sharp drop on concern about the weakening economy, while Hong Kong shares ended higher after a choppy trading session.

Trading volumes were weak across much of the region, in the absence of overnight cues from Wall Street. Also, caution prevailed ahead of Thursday's interest-rate setting meetings at the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.

The day's worst performer was China's Shanghai Composite, which dropped 1.2% amid concerns that a slew of data due next week might offer more evidence of a slowdown in the mainland economy.

The drop followed Tuesday's reports of lackluster growth in June lending figures at the nation's top four banks. While losses were spread across a number of sectors in Shanghai, notable decliners included Qingdao Haier Co., down 4.3%, Haitong Securities Co., 4.2% lower, and Anhui Conch Cement Co., off 3.7%.

The day's drop came even as some large-capital stocks outperformed the broad market. Energy giant PetroChina Co. rose 0.2%, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. gained 0.3%, Poly Real Estate Group Co. added 1.8% and China Life Insurance Co. climbed 1.8%.

Elsewhere in the region, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropped 0.3% and Taiwan's Taiex gave up 0.5%. South Korea's Kospi finished 0.1% higher and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.5%. Shares of many Chinese heavyweights also found buying support in Hong Kong trading, with ICBC rising 0.2%, China Life climbing 2.7% and PetroChina Co. adding 0.8%.

Those advances helped offset China Coal Energy Co.'s 0.3% fall and China Resources Land Ltd.'s 0.5% drop after strong gains recently. Meanwhile, many energy sector shares were sold down after oil futures pulled back from a recent rally, with Inpex Corp. down 1.2% in Tokyo.

COMMODITIES

Base metals closed lower on the London Metal Exchange Thursday, weighed by a stronger dollar following fresh central bank easing measures.

At the close, LME three-month was 0.4% lower at $7,694 a metric ton. Zinc fell the most, down 2.3% at $1,854/ton. Despite an unexpectedly large decline in U.S. oil inventories, oil futures dropped slightly Thursday, undermined by a stronger U.S. dollar and shrinking hopes for aggressive U.S. stimulus measures.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery settled 44 cents, or 0.5%, lower at $87.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. China's central bank and the European Central Bank both cut interest rates in moves designed to stimulate their economy, which narrowed the difference between their interest rates and those of the U.S., making the dollar attractive.

Analysts also said futures prices were weighed down by the possibility that the U.S. employment picture was improving. Market participants fear a too rosy outlook will lessen the prospects of stimulus measures by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Gold futures eased as investors moved to the U.S. dollar at the expense of the precious metal after the announcement of interest rate cuts from the ECB. The most actively traded gold contract, for August delivery, fell $12.40, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,609.40 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Compiled from Morrison Securities Pty. Ltd.