-NYSE down 7 (-0.1%) to 6,462
-DJIA down 41 (-0.4%) to 9,733
-S&P 500 down 3 (-0.3%) to 1,027
-Nasdaq down 8 (-0.4%) to 2,101
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
Hang Seng down 0.59%
Nikkei down 2.04%
FTSE down 2.26%
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) BP report says company secures short-term financing.
(+) ARNA says Eisai to market company's Lorcaserin following FDA
approval.
(+) DELL upgraded.
(+) FDX upgraded.
(+) UPS upgraded.
(+) ISLE postpones stock offering.
(+) C says Treasury sells more shares.
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) DNDN continues evening drop
(-) TASR guides for revenue miss.
(-) SNSS continues evening decline after announcing private
placement
(-) HD slips despite upgrade.
(-) LOW slips despite upgrade.
MARKET DIRECTION
Stocks end modestly lower, dropping 0.3%-0.4% and well off earlier
lows ahead of Friday's jobs report. Still, the decline is enough to
stretch the Dow's losing streak to six sessions. Oil and the dollar are
lower, while Treasury yields edged off the record lows hit earlier this
week.
Crude closes below $73 a barrel on global growth worries. Gold fell
$39.20 to finish at $1,206.70 an ounce.
A trio of economic reports largely disappointed Wall Street though
packed few surprises.
The Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits
climbed 13,000 last week to 472,000. Economists had expected claims to
fall.
The National Association of Realtors said its measure of pending
home sales declined to a new low in May after a flurry of buying to take
advantage of a tax credit that expired at the end of April.
Finally, the Institute for Supply Management reported its
manufacturing index declined in June, though the industry trade group
said the sector seemed to still be expanding.
For Friday's early report, economists polled by Thomson Reuters
forecast that private employers added 112,000 jobs last month. That
would be far above the 41,000 added in May. The overall unemployment
rate is expected to rise to 9.8 percent from 9.7 percent in May.
In company news:
Shares of Bank of America (BAC) fell after the company said its
First Republic Bank had completed a management buyout, according to
Reuters.