Stocks ease below record highs ahead of jobs news
NEW YORK – Stocks are closing lower for the first time in five days as traders look ahead to a key report on the U.S. job market.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell two points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 1,888 Thursday. The index closed at an all-time high a day earlier.
The Dow Jones industrial edged down half a point to 16,572. The Nasdaq composite fell 38 points, or 0.9 percent, to 4,237.
Barnes & Noble plunged 14 percent after Liberty Media said it was selling most of its stake in the bookseller.
The S&P’s index of biotechnology stocks fell 1.6 percent, dragging down health care stocks.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.79 percent.