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The stock market ended Thursday on a cautious note ahead of Friday's Nonfarm Payrolls report for August (consensus 217,000). The S&P 500 added 0.1% after being up as much as 1.3% while the Nasdaq Composite (-0.4%) underperformed throughout the session.

Equities climbed steadily through the first hour of action as global investors rushed into risk assets after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi indicated the ECB's quantitative easing program may be extended. To that point, the ECB made no changes to its policy course, but the central bank will now be allowed to buy up to 33.0% of any particular issue, up from the previous limit of 25.0%. On a related note, the ECB lowered its 2015 GDP forecast for the eurozone to 1.4% from 1.5%.

The news from Europe pressured the euro, sending the single currency lower by 0.8% against the dollar to 1.1125. The euro remained in the neighborhood of its low throughout the day while stocks reached their highs during the first 90 minutes of the day before pulling back.

The early advance was paced by the health care sector (-0.6%), but the influential group was also the first to retreat from its high while others followed suit. Biotechnology hinted at the impending weakness from the get-go as iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 338.63, -7.60) lagged throughout the session, ending lower by 2.2%.

Biotechnology's daylong underperformance also took its toll on the Nasdaq as the tech-heavy index spent the entire session behind the S&P 500. Meanwhile, large cap components like Apple (AAPL 110.37, -1.97), Google (GOOGL 637.05, -7.86), and Facebook (FB 88.10, -1.79) also struggled, which kept the technology sector (-0.1%) among today's laggards. That being said, high-beta chipmakers fared well, evidenced by a 0.8% gain in the PHLX Semiconductor Index. Only four index members posted losses while SunEdison (SUNE 11.94, +1.15) surged 10.7% after the company's Chief Executive Officer appeared on Bloomberg, saying the company expects to see positive cash flows later this year or early next year.

Elsewhere, the energy sector (+0.3%) was forced from its high by the late-afternoon weakness while crude oil jumped 1.0% to $46.30/bbl. Following today's advance, crude is set to enter the Friday session up 3.5% for the week versus a 1.4% week-to-date decline for the energy sector.

Treasuries entered the day with gains and settled near their highs after overcoming a brief intraday slip. The 10-yr note added four ticks, lowering its yield by two basis points to 2.17%.

Investor participation remained above average with more than 860 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data included Initial Claims, Trade Balance, ISM Services, and Challenger Job Cuts:

• The initial claims level increased to 282,000 for the week ending August 29 from a downwardly revised 270,000 (from 271,000) while the consensus expected an increase to 273,000
  • This was the first time the initial claims level exceeded 280,000 since the week ending July 11, but the overall trend supports a labor market that is at, or very near, full employment
• The U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $41.90 billion in July from an upwardly revised $45.20 billion ($43.80 billion) while the consensus expected a decline to $42.70 billion
  • The goods deficit decreased to $61.40 billion in July from $64.80 billion in June while the services surplus was virtually unchanged at $19.60 billion
• The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index declined to 59.0 in August from 60.3 in July while the consensus expected a fall to 58.4
• The Challenger Job Cuts report for August showed a 2.9% increase to follow last month's 125.4% spike

Tomorrow, the August Nonfarm Payrolls report will be released at 8:30 ET (consensus 217,000).

• Nasdaq Composite -0.1% YTD
• S&P 500 -5.2% YTD
• Russell 2000 -4.9% YTD
• Dow Jones Industrial Average -8.1% YTD