U.S. stocks booked losses on Wednesday continuing the decline. Yesterday's U.S. data on durable goods weighed. Durable goods orders dropped 1.4% in February, missing expectations for a 0.2% increase, after a 2.0% rise in January. January's figure was revised down from a 2.8% increase.

The U.S. durable goods orders excluding transportation declined 0.4% in February, missing expectations for a 0.4% gain, after a 0.7% decrease in January. January's figure was revised down from a 0.3% gain.

The S&P 500 closed -1.46% with a final quote of 2,061.05 points. The DOW JONES index lost -1.62%, closing at 17,718.54 points.

Chinese stocks were trading mixed again. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is trading lower -0.16% at 24,489.62 points. China's Shanghai Composite rose to 3,682.42 points closing +0.59% - positive again after ending the longest streak of positive days since 1992 yesterday. Chinese stocks were boosted by speculations on further monetary easing.

The Nikkei closed lower on Thursday and posted the biggest loss in 10 weeks although a report from the BoJ stated an optimistic outlook for the Japanese economy. The tech-sector led the index lower following sharp losses on Wall Street. The index closed -1.39% with a final quote of 19,471.12 points. Today a set of data including Household Spending, Unemployment Rate and the National Consumer Price Index is due.