"Optimism about the economy is helping stocks shrug off a higher-than-forecasted level of US weekly initial jobless claims and an unexpected drop in factory orders," said analysts at Charles Schwab. Economists predict that Labor Department figures published on Friday will show companies continued to produce a raft of jobs during March, although the unemployment rate is expected to stay at 8.9 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue-chip stocks ended the day down 30.88 points (0.25 percent) at 12,319.73. The broad-based S&P 500 index fell 2.43 points (0.18 percent) to 1,325.83, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 4.28 points (0.15 percent) at 2,781.07. Pressing on stocks was news that Ireland, rescued by an EU-IMF bailout last year, could be forced to nationalize more banks after stress tests showed four institutions needed another 24 billion euros. That forced US bank shares lower. Bank of America fell 0.9 percent, JPMorgan Chase slipped 0.8 percent and Citigroup was down 0.7 percent. The bond market was slightly higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.47 from 3.48 late Wednesday, while that for the 30-year dropped to 4.51 percent from 4.54 percent. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.