Stock market today: Indexes mixed as investors assess labor data ahead of Friday payroll report

• Indexes were mixed Thursday as investors took in new labor market data.
• Jobless claims last week fell slightly, but private payroll data was weaker than expected.
• Investors are waiting for the August jobs report for further insight into the health of the labor market.

Indexes wavered on Thursday as investors mulled mixed labor market data ahead of Friday's August jobs report.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were slightly higher, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped. Bond yields edged lower for the third straight day this week, with the 10-year Treasury falling by three basis points to 3.733%.

Jobless claims last week were slightly lower than expected, down to 227,000 from 231,000 in the previous week, per Labor Department data. That marks two consecutive weeks of slight declines.

New private sector payrolls data, meanwhile, showed companies made just 99,000 new hires in August, according to ADP data. That number missed estimates of 140,000 and marks a decline from 111,000 in July, showing a considerable slowdown in hiring.

"The job market's downward drift brought us to slower-than-normal hiring after two years of outsized growth," said Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist.

July job openings figures on Wednesday hit a three-year low of 7.67 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That marks a fall from 7.91 million openings in June and the lowest level since January 2021.

Investors are now waiting on the August nonfarm payroll report, due from the Labor Department on Friday morning. The July jobs report showed a surprise increase in unemployment, rising from 4.1% in June to 4.3%.

The weaker-than-expected reading triggered a market sell-off in early August, with the S&P 500 losing 3% in its biggest single-day drop since 2022.

Economists forecast the US added 162,000 jobs in August, which would put the unemployment rate at 4.2%, a slight decrease from last month.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Thursday:

• S&P 500: 5,525.01, up 0.08%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 40,831.80, down 0.35% (-143.17 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 17,182.92, up 0.08%

Here's what else is going on today:

• Stocks could see a 10% correction by early October owing to a trifecta of bearish factors, strategist Jeff DeGraaf says.
• A cash-strapped region of Argentina has created its own currency amid the country's economic struggles and sky-high inflation.
• The world could see a 1970s-style oil shock amid deepening conflict in the Middle East, "Dr. Doom" economist Nouriel Roubini says.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• Oil futures rose. WTI crude increased 1% to $69.93 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 1% to $73.41 a barrel.
• Gold was up 0.81% to $2,546 per ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield fell three basis points to 3.737%.
• Bitcoin was 1% to $56,955.