Nasdaq leads market ahead of US jobs data

NEW YORK: The Dow was flat and the Nasdaq rose early Thursday ahead of key monthly US jobs data as investors focused on congressional negotiations over a final tax cut proposal.

After hitting numerous records last week, US stocks have struggled for momentum this week as the euphoria over the Senate's passage of a tax cut plan shifts to a waiting game on the completion of talks on sponsors of the two measures, which have some key differences.

Sentiment has also been marred by uncertainty over US budget negotiations, after President Donald Trump again raised the possibility of a government shutdown this week.

About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was unchanged at 24,141.28.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose a hair to 2,630.19, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.3 percent to 6,797.05.

Data from the US Labor Department showed new jobless claims last week down by 2,000 at 236,000.

The report comes ahead of a closely-watched US jobs report for November. Analysts expect the US added 190,000 jobs and that unemployment held steady at 4.1 percent.

Large technology companies, including Apple, Facebook and Google parent Alphabet were positive early Thursday.