Stocks rose slightly Thursday, recovering from early declines, but the advance was limited ahead of Friday's much-anticipated U.S. jobs report. Stocks had fallen in morning trading as investors considered weak reports on the U.S. labor market and manufacturing sector, but investor sentiment improved later in the session. Economists expect U.S. employers added about 100,000 jobs in September, after a decline in payrolls was reported in August. The unemployment rate is expected to have risen to 4.7 percent from 4.6 percent. A stronger-than-expected report might upset Wall Street because it would raise beliefs that the Federal Reserve cannot continue to cut interest rates, but a much weaker report would raise concerns about a recession. Ahead of the monthly report, the weekly U.S. employment report showed Thursday that the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits surged, though the four-week moving average of jobless claims only rose slightly. Another government report showed a bigger-than-expected decline in August factory orders, which fell 3.3 percent, the biggest drop in seven months, due to broad weakness in the U.S. manufacturing sector. Oil prices reversed course, turning higher. Light sweet crude for November delivery rose $1.52 to $81.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Dow Jones industrial average was virtually unchanged, rising 6.26 to 13,974.31. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3.25, or 0.2 percent, to 1,542.84. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 4.14, or 0.15 percent, to 2,733.57. Intel and Micron Technology were among the chip makers falling for a second consecutive session. The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 41.90 to 10,142.93. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 13.36 to 2,396.76. And the Russell 2000 index rose 3.00 to 829.15.
