U.S. bonds, which are viewed as "safe-haven" assets, were boosted by the decline in oil prices as well as in global equities. Benchmark U.S. stock indexes fell by more than 1.5 percent, with consumer discretionary and IT shares falling the most.  U.S. crude oil hovered around 6 ½-year lows and last traded at about $41.30 per barrel, flat on the day. Brent crude was down slightly at about $47 a barrel. U.S. crude and Brent prices have fallen about 22 percent and 18 percent, respectively, since the beginning of the year.  Read MoreThe oil bottom is in when the handcuffs come out  Gold prices broke above $1,150 an ounce, rising to the highest level since July 15 as the U.S. eased in reaction to the minutes from the Fed's July 28-29 policy meeting.  Thursday's trading session hasn't been about "the data or anything more fundamental for the U.S. outside of a continuation of the rethinking of the Fed," Lyngen said.  The Fed minutes were seen as a relatively dovish sign that it would likely not raise interest rates in September, when it meets again.  The central bank has indicated that raising rates is data dependent and the most relevant information is employment and inflation counts.  With that in mind, investors kept an eye on the latest weekly jobless claims, which came in at 277,000, slightly above the consensus estimate of 272,000.  Existing home sales for July were reported at 5.59 million, an eight-year high, above the expected 5.44 million, while leading indicators dropped 0.2 percent in June. Economists were expecting a 0.6 percent increase in leading indicators.  The Philadelphia Fed survey index came in at 8.3, well above the expected 6.75.  —CNBC's Patti Domm and CNBC staff contributed to this report.
Government debt yields fell to multimonth lows, with the 10-year yield slumping below 2.1 percent as stocks declined on global economic worries.