4:21pm: Consumer staples companies struggle
The Dow closed Thursday down 10 points, less than 0.1%, at 33,120, the Nasdaq Composite lost 16 points, 0.1%, to 13,220 and the S&P 500 declined 6 points, 0.1%, to 4,258. The small-cap Russell 2000 index added 3 points, 0.2%, to 1,732.
Some big names in consumer staples struggled. Beverage company Molson Coors saw its shares fall more than 6%, while Pepsi and Clorox each lost more than 5%.
Consumer staples companies led the broad market index’s losses Thursday. Shares of beverage company Molson Coors fell more than 6% Thursday, followed by Clorox and PepsiCo, which declined more than 5% each.
Investors, though, are primarily looking ahead to Friday's jobs report.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones project nonfarm payrolls for September will increase by 170,000, down from a 187,000 jobs uptick in August.
12:00pm: US stocks ease ahead of non-farm payrolls
US stocks fell back after a muted start as investors preferred to stay sidelined ahead of Friday's jobs report.
At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 149.38 points, 0.5%, at 32,980.17, the S&P 500 was down 25.78 points, 0.6%, at 4,237.97 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 91.76 points, 0.7%, at 13,144.25.
After a weak of conflciting evidence as to the health of the labour market, the non-farm payrolls will provide a key indicator as to the roubustness, or otherwsie of the jobs market, as the Fed mulls whether to tighten interest rates further.
Ed Moya at Oanda said: "Stocks are slightly lower as calm emerges in the bond market."
"Wall Street is still seeing a lot of strength in the labor market. The S&P 500 index turned negative after slightly lower-than-expected weekly jobless claims. The risk for higher rates remains as a labor market slowdown was supposed to happen before the holiday hiring season."
9:40am: Stocks make sluggish start
US stocks made a tepid start to the day after data showed the jobs market remains resilient despite the slew of interest rates increases.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.00 point at 33,128.55, the S&P 500 rose 1.79 points at 4,265.54 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.37 points at 13,236.38.
US initial jobless claims were lower than expected in the week just gone, numbers on Thursday showed.
According to the US Department of Labor, initial claims for unemployment support rose to 207,000 in the week ended September 30, from 205,000 a week prior. The previous reading was upwardly revised by 1,000 from 204,000.
The latest figure fell sort of the FXStreet cited consensus, which predicted claims would rise to 210,000.
The four-week moving average fell by 2,500 to 208,750, from 211,250 in the prior week.
The figures followed mixed reports on the labour market earlier in the week, with the US jobs report to come on Friday.
Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics said: “Stepping back from this noise, it is clear that the initial surge in layoffs late last year, concentrated in the tech sector, has flattened.”
“This does not mean, though, that all risk of a sustained increase has passed.”
“The impact of much higher rates and tightening credit has not yet worked through the economy in full, especially in the services sector, so we still think that claims will be substantially higher by, say, the end of the first quarter, regardless of what happens over the next few weeks,” he added.
7:00am: Stock futures slip ahead of further jobs update
US stock futures edged lower ahead of the jobs report on Friday, with more data on the labour market due today.
In pre-market trading, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.2% lower, while those for the S&P 500 fell 0.2%, and contracts for the Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.1%.
The Jolts data earlier in the week had pointed to a hotter-than-expected jobs market, prompting fears of a protracted period of high interest rates in the US.
However, on Wednesday, the ADP national employment report showed job growth in the US private sector slowed significantly in September.
"The score is now one to one. One good news for the US jobs market, and one bad news. Everyone is now holding his or her breath into Friday’s jobs data, which will determine whether we will end this week with a sweet or a sour taste in our mouth," said Swissquote Bank's Ipek Ozkardeskaya.
On Friday, the US employment report will be released, while weekly jobless claims figures, a proxy for lay-offs, will be reported today.
Initial US state unemployment claims are expected to have ticked up to 210,000 last week from 204,000 the previous week.
In company news, Amazon and Microsoft both face an competition probe in the UK over their cloud dominance after Ofcom alleged that certain market features could limit competition.
BlackBerry rose 4.2% after announcing it would split into two separate businesses, and planned to spin off its Internet-of-Things business in an initial public offering.
The IPO would be targeted for the first half of the next fiscal year, BlackBerry said.
While shares of Clorox fell 4% in pre-market trading, after the company guided to first quarter earnings much lower than consensus.
The consumer goods company forecast an adjusted loss ranging from 40 cents to zero cents per share, compared to a FactSet consensus of $1.29 per share in earnings.