US benchmark equity indexes were lower ahead of Thursday's close as traders parsed the latest labor market data, ahead of the official November jobs report due Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5% at 44,812.6, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1% each to 6,081.6 and 19,716.9, respectively. Among sectors, materials saw the steepest decline, while consumer discretionary led the gainers.
Weekly applications for unemployment insurance in the US rose, while continuing claims declined, the Department of Labor said.
US-based employers cut 57,727 jobs last month, up 3.8% from October and rising 27% annually, Challenger Gray & Christmas said.
On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to report that the US economy added 215,000 nonfarm jobs last month, which would mark a sharp acceleration from a 12,000 gain posted for October, according to a Bloomberg poll.
The US two-year yield rose 2.5 basis points to 4.15%, while the 10-year rate was little changed at 4.18%.
Lululemon Athletica (LULU), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Ulta Beauty (ULTA), and DocuSign (DOCU) are among the companies scheduled to report their latest quarterly financial results after the closing bell.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 0.1% at $68.5 a barrel.
Certain members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies extended oil production cuts in a move that Rystad Energy said would lower projected supply growth for next year by roughly 1 million barrels a day.
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