AlHijjah 8, 1435, Oct 2, 2014, SPA -- US stocks closed little changed Thursday, as investors mulled an unexpected drop in weekly jobless claims ahead of the monthly payrolls report. In U.S. economic news, President Barack Obama spoke about the economy in a speech from suburban Chicago, saying that the United States is making more progress than other countries. The Labor Department said that the number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly dropped last week, falling by 8,000 to 287,000. The report comes the day before the September jobs report. Less positive was a 10.1 percent drop in factory orders in August, with the number worse than the estimated 8.7 percent decline. In international economic news, the European Central Bank (ECB) held interest rates unchanged, and ECB President Mario Draghi said that the central bank would purchase assets for two years or more to lift inflation and increase economic growth. International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde said that the IMF would cut its forecast for potential growth, with only a modest pickup expected in 2015. In corporate news, Twitter climbed after JPMorgan Chase upgraded its shares. Tesla Motors rose after the maker of electric cars said that it would come out with a new offering next week. DirecTV gained after agreeing to a $12 deal to keep airing National Football League (NFL) games on Sundays. The dollar gained against the currencies of major U.S. trading partners. Light sweet crude oil for November delivery rose 28 cents to $91.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures dropped 40 cents at $1,215.10 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 3.66, or 0.02 percent, to 16,801.05. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index moved up 0.01, or 0 percent, to 1,946.17. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index added 8.11, or 0.18 percent, to 4,430.19.
