By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal
(Reuters) -Wall Street's main indexes were mixed in volatile trading on Thursday as investors remained cautious ahead of a crucial labor report later in the week and monitored potential escalations in Middle East hostilities.
The benchmark S&P 500 briefly turned positive after the Institute for Supply Management survey showed U.S. service sector activity jumped to a one-and-a-half-year high in September, further evidence that the economy stayed robust in the third quarter.
However, separate data showed weekly jobless claims rose marginally last week. Next up is the nonfarm payrolls report for September, due on Friday.
Odds of a 25-basis-point cut at the Federal Reserve's November meeting now stand at 65.6%, up from 50.7% a week ago, according to the CME Group's (NASDAQ:CME) FedWatch Tool.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 159.10 points, or 0.38%, to 42,037.42, the S&P 500 lost 3.18 points, or 0.06%, to 5,706.36 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 24.18 points, or 0.13%, to 17,949.30.
The CBOE volatility index, Wall Street's fear gauge, hovered at more than three-week highs at 19.75.
Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were lower. However, Energy was the biggest gainer with a 0.9% rise.
Investors have been wary over the last two sessions as they contemplated the scale of Israel and the United States' response to Iran's recent attack on Israel.
Concerns of supply disruptions in the region pushed oil prices up by more than 2%. Oil stocks such as Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) edged higher after four sessions of gains. [O/R]
Meanwhile, a workers' strike on the East and Gulf coasts entered its third day. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) economists said a prolonged stoppage could raise consumer prices, with food prices likely to react first.
"Market participants have three things on their mind right now: tensions in the Middle East, how long will the longshoremen's strike last and does that have inflationary implications," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth.
"The third thing is, what does the pace of economic growth look like (and) that will manifest itself in tomorrow's job numbers."
Rate-sensitive heavyweights were also mixed, with Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) down 1.1%, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) losing 1.9%, while Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) rose 3.5%.
Yields on two-year and 10-year Treasury bonds inched higher and were last up 3.688% and 3.819%, respectively. [US/]
U.S. stocks have rallied for much of the year, with the benchmark S&P 500 confirming a bull rally and logging gains in eight of the previous nine months on expectations of lower borrowing costs. Tech stocks led the charge, with AI integration expected to boost their earnings.
Among other movers, Levi Strauss slid 7.4% after the company said it was considering a sale of its underperforming Dockers brand and forecast fourth-quarter revenue below expectations.
Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) dropped 2.3% after the beer maker maintained its sales and profit forecast for fiscal year 2025.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.24-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.75-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 20 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 47 new highs and 86 new lows.