Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange December 3, 2010. REUTERS

U.S. stocks finished mixed in queasy trading ahead of tomorrow’s nonfarm payroll report from the government. Investors also pondered a rise in initial jobless claims and some weaker-than-expected December sales from some major retailers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 25.58 points, or 0.22 percent, to close at 11.697.31. The S&P 500 Index edged down 2.71 points, or 0.21 percent. NASDAQ, however, gained 7.69 points, or 0.28 percent, to 1273.85, buoyed by chipmaker Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA), which surged 13.84 percent after entering into a partnership with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT).

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose by 18,000 to more than 400,000 last week, raising some doubt about tomorrow’s employment report.

Target (NYSE: TGT) and The Gap (NYSE: GPS) sank 6.80 percent and 6.88 percent, respectively, on soft December sales.

The dollar rose against the pound sterling and euro.

Oil futures dropped 2.39 percent to just above $88 per barrel. Gold edged down slightly to close at $1371.40 per ounce.

Bonds rose, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield down to 3.42 percent.

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