US shares started slightly higher before dipping on Thursday as traders mulled over data and looked to tomorrow's jobs data.
It came as US weekly unemployment benefit claims came in at 263,000, which were slightly better than expectations.
Also, in manufacturing, Markit's final manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 52 in August from 52.9 in July and the flash estimate of 52.1.
But this is still higher than the 50.0 mark, which means expansion rather than contraction
The Dow Jones was down 0.10% at the time of writing, to 18,383, while the S&P500 fell 0.15% to 2,167.
The tech heavy Nasdaq exchange added 0.6% to stand at 5,216.
Meanwhile, on the midcaps, the S&P MidCap 400 dropped 0.14% to 1,562; the SmallCap600 shed 0.22% to 751.43.
US crude was down 1.4% to stand at US$44.03 a barrel.
Cynapsus Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: CYNA) raced up over 116% as it and Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc signed a definitive agreement under which Sunovion will acquire Cynapsus for US$40.50 per share in cash.
The transaction values Cynapsus at around US$624 million (or approximately C$820 million).
PREVIEW
Wall Street is set to start higher as traders eye the non-farm jobs stats tomorrow and as oil prices take a hit.
US crude - the West Texas Intermediate - dropped 0.22% to stand at US$44.60 per barrel.
In futures trading, the S&P500 is up three points, the tech heavy Nasdaq is over 12 to the good and the Dow Jones Industrial Index is 36 higher.
US stocks had a weak finish as the oil slide impacted on energy stocks.
The Dow Jones was down over 53 at 18,400; the Nasdaq shed almost ten at 5,213.
The S&P500 lost over five points at 2,170.
In pre-market today, Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) recovered over 2% to US$15.44 a share.
The job creation figure for August is keenly awaited as a clue to US economic policy.
It rose at company level rose about in line with expectations for the month, despite weakness in manufacturing and construction, according to the latest report from ADP and Moody's Analytics.
Companies added 177,000 positions for the month, just above Wall Street expectations for 175,000. So investors will await to see how the ADP report compares to the public stats tomorrow.