Wall Street closes mixed; gold rises to 2 month high

ALSO READ See how Asian markets are doing

The US markets ended narrowly mixed in a lackluster session following a handful of mixed earnings reports, decline in weekly jobless claims and ahead of the government's monthly employment report due today.

Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.09% or 11.05 points at 12705.41. Nasdaq Composite was up 0.4% or 11.41 points at 2859.68. Standard & Poor's 500 was up 0.11% or 1.45 points at 1325.54.

In economic data, weekly claims for unemployment benefits fell 12,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 367,000, signaling some optimism in the nation's weakened jobs market. Meanwhile, non-farm productivity, increased at a slower-than-expected 0.7% annual rate.

In key data to watch out in the US today, all eyes will be on the non-farm payrolls data which is expected to add 150,000 jobs for January. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate level is expected to remain unchanged at 8.5%. Factory orders could drop to 1.5 % for December. Also the ISM non-manufacturing index may rise to 53.3 levels.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke says that rising federal budget deficits are posing a significant threat to the US economy and could cause a crisis if not brought under control.

In the currency space, euro could head for a weekly decline as Greece and its creditors struggle to reach an agreement on a debt swap, curbing demand for the shared currency. Euro is currently at 1.31 to the dollar.

In commodities, crude prices gain trimming the biggest weekly decline in more than a month, ahead of the US employment report. Nymex is inching back to USD 97 levels.

From the precious metals space, gold rises to a two-month high on a larger-than-expected fall in new US claims for unemployment benefits.