NEW YORK, March 31 (UPI) -- U.S. markets closed mixed Thursday after a positive report from the Labor Department and a slight downturn in factory orders reported by Commerce.
The Commerce Department said factory orders in February dropped 0.1 percent, or $400 million, to $446 billion. At the Labor Department, the weekly report on initial benefit claims for unemployment insurance showed a drop of 6,000 first-time claims to 388,000 in the week ending March 26.
By close of trading in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average shed 30.88 points, 0.25 percent, to 12,319.73. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 2.43 points, 0.18 percent, to 1,325.83. The Nasdaq composite index gained 4.28 points, 0.15 percent, to 2,781.07.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,746 stocks advanced and 1,241 declined on a volume of 3.2 billion shares traded.
The 10-year treasury note fell 5/32 to yield 3.463 percent.
The euro rose to $1.4155 from Wednesday's $1.4126. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 83.19 yen from Wednesday's 82.90 yen.
The Nikkei 225 stock index in Tokyo rose 0.48 percent, 46.31, to 9,755.10.
The FTSE 100 index in London lost 0.66 percent, 39.54, to 5,908.76.
