Stocks fell Thursday, ending a volatile session with losses as investors prepared for Friday's U.S. jobs report for November and considered the latest economic news and Bank of America's plan to repay the U.S. government's $45 billion in emergency loans. Stocks gained in the morning, with Bank of America's news lifting the broader financial sector, but the financial sector turned mixed, and the advance lost momentum, falling sharply in the last half-hour of trading. The government is expected to report Friday that employers cut 125,000 jobs in November after cutting 190,000 the previous month. The unemployment rate is expected to have held steady at 10.2 percent. The Senate Banking Committee was holding its confirmation hearing on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's second term. --MORE
