Investing.com – U.S. equities closed mostly flat on Thursday, as weaker than expected initial jobless claims weighed on upside momentum while energy stocks lagged.
U.S. equities traded mostly negative throughout the session but turned positive moments before the close, as investors awaited a key jobs report on Friday.
Energy shares were the main laggards of session, after crude prices tumbled for a second straight day to settle at $49.28, the lowest price since November.
On the economic data front, The U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday, initial jobless claims increased by 20,000 to 243,000 in the week ending March 4 from the previous week’s total of 223,000.
Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 12,000 to 235,000 last week.
In what was a subdued day on Wall Street, investors anxiously awaited nonfarm payrolls for February (due to be released on Friday), viewed as a critical barometer of the U.S. economy and represents the final key economic data point ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on March 14-15.
Friday's nonfarm payrolls data is expected to show 190,000 jobs were added in the U.S. private and public sectors in February.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.01% higher at 20,858. The S&P 500 gained 0.08% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.02% to close at 5,838. The Dow avoided a fourth day of losses.
In corporate earnings news, Staples Inc (NASDAQ:SPLS) closed more than 5% down at $8.49, after fourth quarter earnings and revenue both missed Wall Street estimates.
The office supplies retailer reported earnings of $0.25 per share against expectations of earnings of $0.26 per share while total sales of $4.6 million missed analysts’ estimates of $5 billion.
The top S&P 500 gainers included Signet Jewelers Ltd (NYSE:SIG) up 8.7%, and Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) up 8.1%, while Frontier Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:FTR) added 4.4%.
Staples Inc (NASDAQ:SPLS) shed 5.2%, PPG Industries Inc (NYSE:PPG) down 3.7% and American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) slumped 3.5%, were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.