By Kate Gibson
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks shifted between gains and
losses Thursday after a slight strengthening in the dollar hit
commodities and related stocks, denting an early advance that came
on a drop in weekly jobless claims.
"The equities market started off on a positive footing this
morning, with modest gains, due to the fact that weekly jobless
claims finally fell below the 450,000 level for the first time in
several months," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at
RDM Financial Group.
"The dollar continued to move lower, helping commodity prices
early on, however a very -- and you can emphasis the word very --
modest bounce in the dollar has taken some of the wind out of the
sails of commodity-related stocks," Sheldon added.
After rising to within a few points of the psychological 11,000
level, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was off 15.82 points,
or 0.2%, at 10,951.83.
The S&P 500 (SPX) fell nearly 1 point to 1,159.22.
Bucking the trend, the Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) rose 8.55 points
to 2,389.21.
Advancers ran just ahead of decliners on the New York Stock
Exchange, where volume came to 239 million as of 10:45 a.m.
Eastern.
The dollar recovered most of its losses on the day against the
euro, which had pushed to a new eight-month high above $1.40.
Foreign-exchange traders keyed on remarks by European Central Bank
President Jean-Claude Trichet.
The dollar index (DXY), which contrasts the greenback against
six currency rivals, stood at 77.285, off from the 77.397 level
late Wednesday.
The weekly jobless-claims data come one day ahead of the
government's monthly employment report, with economists expecting
the unemployment rate to climb to 9.7% in September from 9.6% in
August.
Meanwhile, retailers including Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF)
and Limited Brands Inc. (LTD) reported better-than-anticipated
monthly sales.
PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) reported a profit rise for the third quarter.
While earnings met expectations, the beverage and snack-foods
company steered its earnings forecast lower, sending shares 3.7%
lower.
After the close, Alcoa Inc. (AA) releases third-quarter
financial results, with the aluminum manufacturer the first of the
Dow's 30 components to report earnings.