U.S. markets closed mostly flat Thursday as investors looked ahead to Friday’s July jobs report.

• The Dow closed the day down -85.68 or -0.26%
• The S&P 500 slid -3.23 or -0.08%
• The Nasdaq closed the day up +52.42 or +0.41%

The Labor Department on Thursday reported that about 260,000 workers in the United States filed new unemployment claims for the week ending July 30, reaching a nine-month high.

The data came as investors also braced for a July jobs report Friday, which economists estimate will show that the economy added 250,000 jobs last month, down from 372,000 in June……[read more]

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