The US markets ended lower on Thursday as investors remained cautious about escalation in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, which has sent oil prices soaring and heightened inflation concerns. Traders remained cautious as a report released by the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims in the US rose by 5,000 from the previous month to 210,000 in the week ended March 21, aligned with the median market expectations but remaining below the average from the previous year. Meanwhile, continuing jobless claims, which serve as proxy for outstanding unemployment in the US, fell by 32,000 to 1,819,000 in the earlier week, well below expectations of 1,850,000 to tie for the lowest since May of 2024.

On sectoral front, Semiconductor stocks were among the market's worst performers on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 3.2 percent.  Considerable weakness was also visible among computer hardware stocks, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index tumbling by 2.4 percent.  

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 469.38 points or 1.01 percent to 45,960.11, Nasdaq decreased 521.74 points or 2.38 percent to 21,408.08 and S&P 500 slipped 114.74 points or 1.74 percent to 6,477.16.