US stocks closed lower on Thursday under a cloud of fiscal cliff concerns that overshadowed a batch of somewhat positive economic data on jobs, retail sales and inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 71.65 points (0.54 percent) at 13,173.80 in closing trade.

The broad-market S&P 500 retreated 8.77 (0.61 percent) to 1,419.71, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 21.65 (0.72 percent) to 2,992.16.