The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.58%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.16%, while the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.60%
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks closed mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 173 points (-0.58%) to 29872, the S&P 500 fell 5 points (-0.16%) to 3629, while the Nasdaq 100 advanced 72 points (+0.60%) to 12152.
Investors were surprised by an unexpected jump in weekly jobless claims. The U.S. Labor Department reported that latest initial jobless claims rose to 778,000.
Retailing (+1.05%), Technology Hardware & Equipment (+0.47%) and Household & Personal Products (+0.41%) sectors were the best performers, while Automobiles & Components (-2.82%), Energy (-2.42%) and Materials (-1.08%) sectors lagged behind. Nordstrom Inc (JWN +11.65%), Autodesk (ADSK +4.74%) and PayPal (PYPL +4.11%) were top gainers, Gap (GPS -19.61%), Salesforce.com (CRM -5.37%) and Ford Motor (F -3.86%) were top losers.
Approximately 92% of stocks in the S&P 500 Index were trading above their 200-day moving average and 84% were trading above their 20-day moving average.
U.S. official data showed that durable goods orders (preliminary reading) increased 1.3% on month in October. Personal income dropped 0.7% on month in October and personal spending rose 0.5%.
New home sales declined to an annualized rate of 999,000 units in October.
U.S. markets will be closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield ticked lower to 0.877% from 0.882% Tuesday.
Spot gold eased a further $2 (-0.11%) to $1,805 an ounce.
Oil prices were lifted by the U.S. Energy Information Administration report that crude-oil stockpiles fell 754,000 barrels last week. U.S. WTI crude futures (January) jumped $0.91 (+2.03%) to $45.82 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar remained subdued against other major currencies, as the ICE Dollar Index struggled at levels around the key 92.00 level.
EUR/USD regained the key 1.1900 level as it advanced 0.22% to 1.1917, the highest close since August 31.
GBP/USD added 0.12% to 1.3375 extending its rally to a fourth session.
USD/JPY was little changed at 104.46, while USD/CHF sank 0.33% to 0.9082.
AUD/USD edged higher to 0.7365.
