Stocks alternated between gains and losses on Thursday as traders weighed the latest batch of economic data and tech tried to recover from its recent losses.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average hesitated 68.18 points late Thursday morning to 26,694.95.
The S&P 500 dipped 0.63 points to 3,236.29.
The NASDAQ hung onto gains of 34 points to 10,666.99
Shares of Apple gained 0.7%. Microsoft and Alphabet were also up 0.7% each. Amazon traded 0.3% higher.
So far in September the S&P 500 has declined 7.5%, while the Dow has shed 5.8%. The NASDAQ has been the relative outperformer, registering a loss of 9.7% as investors rotate out of Big Tech. Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Alphabet and Microsoft are all down at least 11% in September.
Wall Street is also grappling with a lack of new fiscal stimulus, which several economists and the Federal Reserve argue is needed for the economic recovery to continue.
This lack of a stimulus bill led Goldman Sachs to slash its fourth-quarter GDP forecast to 3% from 6% on an annualized basis.
Comments from President Donald Trump that he would not commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election appeared to hit sentiment, raising concern about a drawn-out election result.
The weekly report in claims highlights that job creation in the aftermath of the pandemic is stalling out, raising further fears about the shape of the U.S.'s return to normality.
Jobless claims rose 4,000 to 870,000, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday, reflecting that slightly more Americans applied for state unemployment benefits in the week ended Sept. 19 than in the prior week.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury gained, driving yields down to 0.66% from Wednesday's 0.68%, Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices forfeited 11 cents to $39.82 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $5.90 to $1,862.50 U.S. an ounce.