U.S. stocks ended sharply lower on Thursday as the rise in yields continued to weigh on the market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1,032.89 points, or 4.15 percent, to 23,860.46. The S&P 500 dropped 100.66 points, or 3.75 percent, to 2,581.00. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 274.82 points, or 3.90 percent, to 6,777.16.

Analysts said the rising bonds yields dented investor sentiment. The country's 10-year yield nearly surpassed a four-year high of 2.885 percent in the morning trading Thursday, a level that helped trigger a global sell-off in equity markets on Monday.

On the economic front, in the week ending Feb. 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 221,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 230,000, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The four-week moving average was 224,500, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 234,500. This is the lowest level for this average since March 10, 1973 when it was 222,000.

In corporate news, shares of Twitter soared 12.15 percent to 30.18 U.S. dollars apiece on Thursday, after the social network delivered better-than-expected quarterly results and reported its first-ever quarter of profitability.

Latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the fourth quarter of 2017 are expected to rise by 14.7 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase by 8.0 percent.

In other corporate news, Chinese smart wearable device maker Huami Corporation rang the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) opening bell Thursday in celebration of its Initial Public Offerings, notching the first NYSE IPO of a Chinese company this year. At the close, the company's shares rose 2.27 percent to close at 11.25 dollars apiece.