US stocks : Dow off 0.1 pct
U.S. stocks were little changed on Thursday as investors were cautious after a mixed bag of economic data, while stellar earnings from chipmaker Qualcomm helped the Nasdaq index to edge higher.
The S&P 500 is on track to post its best month since October 2011 and its best January since 1997.
Investors expect a pullback in equities after the recent gains, though they have bought on dips over the past four weeks. The largest daily decline on the S&P 500 so far in 2013 was Wednesday's 0.39 percent drop after data showed the economy contracted in the fourth quarter of 2012.
On Friday, the government is due to release figures on January's non-farm payrolls, which are expected to show employers added 160,000 jobs in January after a rise of 155,000 in December.
"It's the calm before the potential storm. The uncertainty about tomorrow's numbers comes from that fact that we had a decent ADP report but the weekly claims were not so great," said Randy Frederick, managing director of active trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.
"We could see an overly sensitive market to a bad number tomorrow, given that we've been up without a major correction, and that makes the market sensitive to the downside."
Data on Thursday showed a slight rise in weekly jobless claims and incomes growing at the best pace since 2004, underscoring how fragile the economic recovery still was.
Friday will also bring reports on consumer confidence, U.S. manufacturing, construction spending and car sales.
Qualcomm gained 4.4 percent to $66.32
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