Stocks finished higher as Wall Street hoped a dismal ADP private payrolls report and hotter-than-expected weekly jobless data would encourage the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates in September. The ISM services purchasing managers index (PMI) reading of 52 for August was also in focus, coming in above estimates of 50.8. The Dow snapped a three-day losing streak, the Nasdaq logged another triple-digit gain, and the S&P 500 nabbed a fresh record close, with attention now shifting to the nonfarm payrolls report due out tomorrow.

OIL GAPS LOWER AS INVENTORIES RISE

Oil tumbled to a two-week low after a surprise rise in U.S. inventories last week, and ahead of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies' (OPEC+) output meeting. October-dated West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 57 cents, or 0.9%, to $63.40 a barrel.

Profit taking and Fed interest rate talks pushed gold prices lower for Thursday's session. U.S. gold futures pulled back 0.6% to settle at $3,613.60 per ounce.

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