Stocks mixed in listless trading

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were mixed Thursday as investors focused on weekly jobless claims and the latest sign of a slowdown in China.

The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 were up about 0.1%, while the Nasdaq fell 0.1%.

Shares of Dow component Travelers Cos. (TRV, Fortune 500) jumped after the insurer reported that its income more than doubled in the quarter, beating expectations, thanks to lower losses from natural disasters. Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) shares rose after the company posted earnings that met expectations. Shares of IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) continued to be under pressure after the blue chip reported a dip in sales late Tuesday.

Beyond earnings, a report on initial jobless claims showed that the number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits jumped by 46,000 to 388,000 last week. That's higher than the 360,000 that economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected.

Separately, the Philadelphia branch of the Federal Reserve said manufacturing activity improved in the district during October.

"Jobless claims are certainly a factor," said Dan Greenhaus, market strategist at brokerage BTIG in New York. "But the China data dominated the early morning conversation."

Earlier, the Chinese government said economic growth slowed last quarter to its lowest level since early 2009. China's economy rose at a 7.4% rate in the third quarter compared to the previous year, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday. China's economy had grown at a 7.6% rate in the prior quarter.

Asian markets still managed to close higher. The Shanghai Composite climbed 1.2%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.5%, and Japan's Nikkei rose 2%.

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Meanwhile, investors will be on the lookout for any news out of a two-day summit of European leaders in Brussels. Leaders are expected to discuss proposed reforms of the banking sector and more integrated budget policies.

European stocks ended higher. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.2%, the DAX in Germany added 0.6%, while France's CAC 40 gained 0.6%.

Fear & Greed Index

In the United States, investors have more earnings results to sort through Thursday.

Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) reported earnings before the opening bell that topped analysts' forecasts, posting earnings per share of 28 cents and revenue of $7.6 billion -- compared to the 24 cents a share and $6.4 billion in revenue that had been expected.

U.S.-listed shares of Nokia (NOK) fell after the Finnish cellphone maker logged its sixth straight quarterly loss.

Asset manager Blackstone (BX) reported strong quarterly results, while earnings from Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) and Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) are due out after the bell.

Overall, S&P Capital IQ projects that third-quarter earnings for the S&P 500 will decline 0.7% from a year ago, the weakest showing in three years.

Shares of Juniper Networks (JNPR) surged after a trade publication reported that it could be taken over by EMC (EMC, Fortune 500).

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Currencies and commodities: The dollar slipped against the euro and the British pound, but rose against the Japanese yen.

Oil for November delivery fell 38 cents to $91.75 a barrel.

Gold futures for December delivery slid $6.60 to $1,746.50 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury edged lower, pushing the yield up to 1.82% from 1.81% late Wednesday.

First Published: October 18, 2012: 9:42 AM ET

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