US benchmark equity indexes ended lower Thursday following the latest economic data, a day after the Federal Reserve voted to keep interest rates unchanged.

* Weekly applications for unemployment insurance in the US rose less than projected, while continuing claims moved higher, government data showed Thursday.

* "Businesses have done well to preserve margin by reducing labor costs via attrition, shorter hours and part-time employment (often demanded by workers) to mitigate slack, rather than mass layoffs," Jefferies Chief US Economist Thomas Simons said in a note.

* The pace of US existing home sales rose by 4.2% to a 4.26 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in February from 4.09 million in January, compared with an expected decrease to a 3.95 million rate in a survey compiled by Bloomberg, data from the National Association of Realtors showed. Total sales fell 1.2% from a year earlier.

* April West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed up $1.14 to settle at $68.30 per barrel, while May Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up $1.34 to $72.12 as the US placed additional sanctions on Iran.

* Jabil (JBL) lifted its full-year outlook after the manufacturing-solutions provider repored better-than-expected fiscal Q2 results. The stock rose 3.1%.

* Accenture (ACN) shares fell 7.3% after the chief executive officer warned revenue will be hurt by the Trump administration's efforts to slash US government costs.