New York  - US stocks closed lower on Thursday, just one hour before the Federal Reserve was due to release the much-awaited results of its "stress tests" on the country's top banks.

The US central bank was to release the findings after the markets closed, but media leaks ahead of the announcement suggested at least seven of the country's largest 19 banks will be forced to raise at least 65 billion dollars in capital to survive the economic downturn.

The regulatory review is designed to gauge the health of the US banking system, and government officials ahead of the announcement said they hoped it would remove some of the market's uncertainty about the state of US financial institutions.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 102.43 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 8,409.85. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 12.14 points, or 1.3 per cent, to
907.39. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 42.86 points, or 2.4 per cent, to 1,716.24.

The US currency fell against the euro to 74.71 euro cents from 75.15 euro cents on Wednesday. The dollar gained against the Japanese currency to 99.07 yen from 98.44 yen. (dpa)