NEW YORK, April 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended higher after wavering in a tight range Thursday as investors mainly assessed upbeat jobs data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 14.80 points, or 0.07 percent, to 20,662.95. The S&P 500 rose 4.54 points, or 0.19 percent, to 2,357.49. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 14.47 points, or 0.25 percent, to 5,878.95.
In the week ending April 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 234,000, a decrease of 25,000 from the previous week's revised level, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.
The 4-week moving average was revised up by 250 from 254,250 to 254,500.
Investors also kept a close eye on the country's nonfarm payrolls data due on Friday. Analysts said recent jobs reports pointed to the strength of U.S. labor market.
Meanwhile, Wall Street continued to digest the minutes from the Federal Reserve's March meeting, which showed Fed officials want to start unwinding the central bank's massive 4.5-trillion-U.S.-dollar balance sheet later this year.
"Provided that the economy continued to perform about as expected, most participants anticipated that gradual increases in the federal funds rate would continue and judged that a change to the Committee's reinvestment policy would likely be appropriate later this year," the minutes said Wednesday.
Analysts said that unwinding the balance sheet is significant both because of its sheer size and the impact it could have on markets as the move itself would amount to a rate hike.
