NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A rally in financial shares and signs of improvement in the retail sector gave the blue chips a boost Thursday, but the broader market dragged on jitters ahead of Friday's big government jobs report.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) added 33 points, or 0.3%. Boeing (BA, Fortune 500), General Electric (GE, Fortune 500) and the bank stocks led the advance.
The S&P 500 index (SPX) added nearly 5 points, or 0.4%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) ended just below unchanged.
Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) and Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) were among the big financial names making strides. The KBW Bank (BKX) index jumped more than 4%.
Select homebuilders and retailers rose too. But the tech sector was under pressure, dragging on the Nasdaq.
Stocks struggled Wednesday as weakness in tech and telecom vied with signs of stabilization in the job market and service sector of the economy. The labor market was again in focus Thursday as investors eyed the weekly jobless claims and geared up for Friday's big government jobs report.
Since rallying Monday, stocks have been mixed to lower. Market participants remain cautious ahead of the next batch of earnings and economic news as well as holding back in the wake of a big 2009. Last year, the S&P 500 gained 23%, the Dow industrials added 19% and the Nasdaq added 44%.
Analysts expect 2010 to continue the uptrend, but at a much milder pace.
"Right now things are shaping up to be pretty decent for 2010," said Dave Hinnenkamp, CEO at KDV Wealth Management. "Unemployment is going to be stubborn, but we'll see good earnings growth, especially in the first half and that will help stocks."
Investors are looking for signs that the economic recovery that began in the fourth quarter is sustainable, with unemployment and consumer spending front-and-center.
Jobs: The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment rose to 434,000 last week from 433,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought it would rise to 439,000, on average.
Continuing claims, a measure of Americans who have been receiving benefits for a week or more, fell to 4,802,000 from 4,981,000 the previous week. Economists thought it would ease to 4,975,000.
On Friday, the government is expected to report that employers cut 35,000 from their payrolls after cutting 11,000 in the previous month. The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, is expected to hold steady at 10%.
Retail: Late-season holiday shoppers were a boon to the nation's chain stores, boosting December sales by 2.9%, a year after sales slumped 3.6% at the height of the recession.
Discounters such as Costco (COST, Fortune 500) fared particularly well. The company said sales at stores open a year or more, a retail metric known as same-store sales, rose 9% in December versus forecasts for a rise of 7.9%.
Target (TGT, Fortune 500) said sales rose 1.8%, versus forecasts for a rise of 0.2%. The company also said fourth-quarter earnings should meet or top analysts' forecasts of $1.11 per share.
World markets: Asian markets ended higher. In Europe, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.1%, France's CAC 40 was little changed and the German DAX lost 0.4%.
Commodities and the dollar: The dollar gained versus the euro and the yen.
The stronger dollar pressured dollar-traded commodities. COMEX gold for February delivery lost $2.80 to settle at $1,133.70 an ounce. Gold closed at an all-time high of $1,218.30 an ounce last month.
U.S. light crude oil for February delivery fell 63 cents to settle at $82.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after ending the previous session at $83.18, the highest close since October 2008.
Bonds: Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.81% from 3.80% late Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers by three to two on volume of 1.19 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners five to four on volume of 2.26 billion shares.
Talkback: With the economy in recovery mode and a new year underway, what's your 2010 plan for your portfolio? Will you invest more, less or not at all? Are you willing to take on more risk? E-mail your story to realstories@cnnmoney.com and you could be featured in an upcoming article. For the CNNMoney.com Comment Policy, click here. 
| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 3.80% | 3.88% | |
| 15 yr fixed | 3.20% | 3.23% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 3.84% | 3.88% | |
| 30 yr refi | 3.82% | 3.93% | |
| 15 yr refi | 3.20% | 3.23% |
Today's featured rates:
| Index | Last | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 32,627.97 | -234.33 | -0.71% |
| Nasdaq | 13,215.24 | 99.07 | 0.76% |
| S&P 500 | 3,913.10 | -2.36 | -0.06% |
| Treasuries | 1.73 | 0.00 | 0.12% |
| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford Motor Co | 8.29 | 0.05 | 0.61% |
| Advanced Micro Devic... | 54.59 | 0.70 | 1.30% |
| Cisco Systems Inc | 47.49 | -2.44 | -4.89% |
| General Electric Co | 13.00 | -0.16 | -1.22% |
| Kraft Heinz Co | 27.84 | -2.20 | -7.32% |
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