Stocks end mixed ahead of August’s pivotal jobs report

• The Dow and S&P 500 fell while the Nasdaq rose on Thursday as investors braced for Friday’s jobs report.

• Last week’s jobless claims fell slightly, while private payrolls rose less than expected in August.

• The August nonfarm payrolls report will be an important input for the Fed ahead of its next policy meeting.

US stocks ended mixed on Thursday as investors digested new labor market data ahead of the August jobs report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 250 points and the S&P 500 fell less than 0.5 percent. The Nasdaq Composite edged higher in the session.

Bond yields continued to fall, adding to declines from earlier in the week. The 10-year Treasury yield fell three basis points to 3.731%.

Investors are eagerly anticipating August’s nonfarm payrolls report, with markets on edge after new data this week showed the labor market and economy may be slowing.

Private payrolls rose less than expected in August, with 99,000 workers added, compared with estimates of 140,000. The number was also below data from July, which showed 111,000 new hires, according to ADP.

“While the actual print has little or no signaling power for the BLS payrolls numbers, the fact that ADP private payrolls have softened for 5 consecutive months is noteworthy,” said Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY, in a note on Thursday.

Job postings in July also indicated a contraction in the labor market, falling to a three-year low of 7.67 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Meanwhile, last week’s jobless claims fell slightly for the second straight week. Jobless claims fell to 227,000 from 231,000 a week earlier, according to Labor Department data.

Analysts expect August’s non-farm payrolls report to show the jobless rate will ease slightly to 4.2 percent, with 162,000 additional jobs added this month.

The data will follow a critical report in July that showed unemployment rose to 4.3 percent in a surprise jump from 4.1 percent in June. The reading helped trigger a steep market selloff in early August.

Here’s where US indices stood at the closing bell at 4pm on Thursday:

Here’s what else happened today:

The story continues

In commodities, bonds and crypto:

• Oil futures were lower. WTI crude rose slightly to $69.15 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell to $72.66 a barrel.

• Gold rose 0.75% to $2,544.90 an ounce.

• The 10-year Treasury yield fell three basis points to 3.731%.

• Bitcoin fell 3.6% to $56,024.

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