India, Feb. 6 -- Stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Thursday, with the major averages swinging back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing mixed.
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new highs for the session going into the end the day, closing higher for the third straight session.
The Nasdaq climbed 99.66 points or 0.5 percent to 19,791.99 and the S&P 500 rose 22.09 points or 0.4 percent to 6,083.57, but the narrower Dow fell 125.65 points or 0.3 percent to 44,747.63.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.
The report, which is e...