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New York -Wall Street stocks on Thursday finished little changed, rallying somewhat from a big mid-session drop as investors looked ahead to Friday's US jobs report for September.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 3.66 points to 16 801.05.
The broad-based S&P 500, which fell as low as 1 926.03, ended essentially flat at 1 946.17, up 0.01 point. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 8.11 points at 4 430.19.
US stocks spent much of the morning in the red after European markets fell sharply amid disappointment at the limited nature of the European Central Bank's stimulus program.
Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at S&P Capital IQ, said investors did not want to oversell stocks before Friday, in case the jobs report is strong.
Economists on average expect the US economy added 210 000 jobs in September, after a disappointing 142 00 in August.
Dow member JPMorgan Chase fell 0.9% after The New York Times reported that the giant bank suffered a second hacking breach in three months. JPMorgan later said it was unaware of any new attack.
Tesla Motors raced 4.7% higher after founder Elon Musk hinted the automaker would unveil a new model next week. Musk posted to Twitter a photo of a partially open garage door with the letter "D" and the silhouette of an automobile.
"About time to unveil the D and something else," Musk said in his tweet, without elaborating.
Netflix gained 2.6% on news that it signed comic actor Adam Sandler to produce and star in four films.
Spice maker McCormick rose 2.9% as third-quarter earnings rose 18% following a 15% sales increase in China. The company raised its full-year profit forecast.
Digital television provider DirecTV advanced 0.9% after announcing a deal with the National Football League to expand and extend its broadcasts of US football. Terms were not disclosed.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.44% from 2.40% on Wednesday, while the 30-year advanced to 3.15% from 3.11%. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
