The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) finished down 26 points, or 0.2%, The S&P 500 (SPX) fell 3 points, or 0.2%, The tech-heavy Nasdaq (COMP) gained 8 points, or 0.3%.
Though investors are hoping that the government's monthly employment figures due before the opening bell Friday will also show signs of a brightening jobs pictures, they hesitated to take big positions Thursday.
"Yesterday's report on private sector payrolls was extremely strong, but today's data on unemployment claims puts the reliability of that number in question," said Dave Hinnenkamp, CEO of KDV Wealth Management. "It's crucial that the monthly figures tomorrow come in strong. Anything less than expected will be a major disappointment to the market."
The dollar rose against the euro for a fourth consecutive day, rising more than 1% to $1.3016. It also rose 0.3% against the British pound. The greenback edged up slightly versus the Japanese yen. The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of rival currencies, rose 0.6%.
A stronger buck weighs on commodity prices, which are priced in dollars.
Oil for February delivery lost $1.92, or 2.1%, to settle $88.38 a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery fell $2.00, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,371.70 an ounce.
No comments:
Post a Comment