Treasuries prices rose on a safety bid as investors braced for the employment report, and oil and commodity prices slipped on slowing demand. Copper prices were also hit by worries about the outlook for the real estate market in China, the world's largest consumer of the industrial metal.

China's banking regulator ordered lenders to test the impact of a fall in house prices of up to 50 percent in key cities where prices have risen sharply, banking and regulatory sources said on Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 35.76 points, or 0.33 percent, at 10,644.67. The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 4.49 points, or 0.40 percent, at 1,122.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 12.71 points, or 0.55 percent, at 2,290.86.

US stocks were also hurt by July retail sales that were mostly weaker than expected. The data was a sign that skittishness about high unemployment and economic conditions were causing consumers to cut back.

Global equities measured by the MSCI All-Country World Index also was down on the US data, off 0.05 percent, while the Thomson Reuters global stock index dipped 0.06 percent.

European shares closed lower. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares shed 0.2 percent to 1,068.98 points, slipping from three-month highs hit earlier in the session.

Japan's Nikkei closed up 1.7 percent, helped by top carmaker Toyota Motor Corp., which reported its best operating profit in two years.

The euro saw selling pressure after being boosted earlier Thursday by solid German industrial data and signs that Spain and Greece were making progress in trimming budget deficits.

The euro was flat at $1.3150. Earlier it rose to $1.3234 after the US jobless claims data.

Oil prices slipped below $82 a barrel Thursday.

Benchmark crude for September delivery fell 53 cents to $81.94 a barrel in early afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil has traded in the $70s for most of this year on concerns about the global economic recovery.

Signs of improving US oil demand helped support crude prices recently. In its weekly report Wednesday, the Energy Department said commercial oil inventories fell by 2.8 million barrels last week, a bigger drop than analysts had expected.