Stocks ended modestly lower Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapping a 5-day winning streak as investors awaited the release of the May jobs report. The Dow ended around 23 points lower near 34,577, a loss of 0.1%, according to preliminary figures. The blue-chip gauge had dropped by more than 260 points at its session low before bouncing back to trade in positive territory. The S&P 500 fell around 15 points, or 0.4%, to close near 4,193, while the Nasdaq Composite gave up around 142 points, or 1%, to finish near 13,615. The May jobs report, set for release at 8:30 a.m. Eastern on Friday, is expected to show nonfarm payrolls rose by 671,000, according to economists surveyed by Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal. Investors were on tenterhooks after the April jobs report showed the creation of just 266,000 jobs, well below Wall Street’s consensus forecast of 1 million.
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