US close: Stocks draw in claws ahead of NFP

US stock markets closed out the year's strongest month but showed a little caution on Thursday ahead of Friday's April Fools non-farm payrolls report.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrials Average was down 0.18% at 17,685.09, with the S&P 500 losing 0.2% to 2,059.74, but the Nasdaq composite minutely higher at 4,869.85, a rise of 0.55 points or 0.01%.

The Dow and S&P 500 have both gained ground over the first three months of the year, with both up around 7.0% in March, after jumping back by about 13% from the 22-month lows reached at the start of February – led by a rebound in commodity and bank stocks.

Oil futures were in the red late in the day on the expectation of rising supplies from Iran and bearish US inventory data published overnight, after seeing a bounce earlier due to a weaker dollar.

The dollar index fell to a fresh five-month low to record its worst quarter in five years.

In the background, economic reports were mixed, with MNI's regional Chicago purchasing managers' index recovering from a reading of 47.6 to 53.6 (consensus: 50.8).

Initial unemployment claims rose by 11,000 over the seven days ended on 16 March to reach 276,000 (consensus: 265,000).

But the week's earlier rally on the back of Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen's dovishness lost its momentum, with analysts saying traders were sitting on their hands ahead of the jobs report.

Other market commentary cited investors' eyes beginning to turn to the start of the next earnings season in the States, on 11 April, when Alcoa and JP Morgan are scheduled to kick things off.

Wall Street's largest banks, JP Morgan, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs are also expected to report an average drop of 25.0% in their quarterly trading revenues.

Nonetheless, the sudden reversal in the stock market's fortunes over the last few weeks meant that analysts' estimates might prove to have been overly pessimistic.

A rally in global equities since their February 2016 lows had further to run, as evidence mounted that deflationary pressures were easing, in turn allowing the US Federal Reserve to continue tightening policy "without causing trauma", analysts at Kepler Chevreux said.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was one basis point higher at 1.83%, but Bloomberg's spot US dollar index was 0.42% weaker at 94.44.

Front month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were 0.55% lower at $38.11 after the Wall St session closed.

S&P 500 - Risers
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $11.14 +5.79%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $8.07 +4.81%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $27.44 +4.73%
Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) $51.33 +3.74%
Signet Jewelers Ltd (SIG) $124.03 +3.63%
Rowan Companies plc (RDC) $16.10 +3.54%
Hess Corp. (HES) $52.65 +3.30%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $139.22 +3.26%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $25.19 +3.15%
Xerox Corp. (XRX) $11.16 +3.05%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $2.32 -4.92%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $27.00 -3.98%
Deere & Co. (DE) $76.99 -3.91%
Monsanto Co. (MON) $87.74 -3.68%
AutoNation Inc. (AN) $46.68 -2.69%
Allergan plc (AGN) $268.03 -2.51%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $16.05 -2.49%
FLIR Systems Inc. (FLIR) $32.95 -2.46%
Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) $31.11 -2.38%
FMC Corp. (FMC) $40.37 -2.20%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $151.45 +2.05%
American Express Co. (AXP) $61.40 +1.84%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $99.31 +0.40%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $55.23 +0.33%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $156.98 +0.31%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $95.40 +0.16%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $54.08 +0.07%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $76.54 +0.04%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $28.47 +0.04%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $133.43 +0.01%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $29.64 -1.43%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $63.32 -1.32%
Boeing Co. (BA) $126.94 -1.28%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $32.35 -1.10%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $83.59 -1.10%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $61.47 -0.92%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $59.22 -0.82%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $108.20 -0.72%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $116.71 -0.61%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $128.90 -0.60%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Vimpelcom Ltd Ads (VIP) $4.26 +8.12%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $72.47 +6.03%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $82.48 +5.61%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $139.22 +3.26%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $162.11 +2.97%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $41.28 +2.92%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $260.32 +2.42%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $47.24 +2.38%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $27.29 +2.36%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (NCLH) $55.29 +2.05%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $26.50 -2.72%
Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) $31.11 -2.38%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $46.26 -2.34%
Priceline Group Inc (PCLN) $1,288.96 -2.13%
Ctrip.Com International Ltd. Ads (CTRP) $44.26 -1.69%
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $57.42 -1.63%
Broadcom Limited (AVGO) $154.50 -1.55%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $133.38 -1.13%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $32.35 -1.10%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $273.66 -1.08%