U.S. stocks held steady on Thursday as investors awaited Friday’s highly anticipated jobs report to gauge the pace of the labour-market
recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 53.7 points above Wednesday’s all-time high to 34,284.04.
The S&P 500 sank 2.58 points to 4,164.01.
The NASDAQ Composite slid 53.2 points to 13,529.22.
The muted action came despite a better-than-expected reading on jobless claims. First-time claims for unemployment insurance totaled 498,000 for the week ended March 1, hitting a fresh pandemic-era low and better than a Dow Jones estimate of 527,000.
The data came one day before April’s jobs report is released on Friday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect a total of 978,000 payrolls to be added last month and the unemployment rate is expected to fall to 5.8% from 6%.
PayPal shares jumped 1.5% to lead tech names after the company posted better-than-expected earnings and said revenue last quarter surged 31%.
Etsy tanked by 11% after warning that sales will slow as the pandemic boost wanes.
The busiest week of earnings is now in the rearview mirror, but a number of companies have yet to provide their quarterly updates.
Dropbox, Expedia, Roku, Beyond Meat, Shake Shack and Square will report after the market closes.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys gained ground, weighing yields to 1.58% from Wednesday’s 1.57%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices docked nine cents to $65.54 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $8.60 to $1,792.90 U.S. an ounce.