Mixed finish for Wall Street

NEW YORK Weakness has prevailed as corporate outlooks and economic news have taken on a downbeat theme. The Labor Department said that new claims for unemployment benefits rose by 15,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 478,000.

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The Dow rose 172 points to 8,691.

The S&P 500 gained 11 points to 908.

However, the Nasdaq composite settled with a loss of nearly 12 points to 1,603. It closed well off its lows for the day.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 5 to 3 margin on the New York Stock Exchange.

Volume on the NYSE came to about 7 billion shares. Nasdaq stock market volume was 3.1 billion shares.