US stocks end mixed

US stocks finished Wednesday mixed due to uncertainty as to whether the European Central Bank will stimulate its economy on Thursday and whether the US jobs report will come in solid on Friday. At the close of US trading, the Dow 30 rose 0.06%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.08%, while the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.56%. The Volatility S&P 500 index, which measures the outlook for market volatility, was up 0.90% at 12.36. Stocks rose earlier after Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko said he had agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin to take steps to establish a ‘permanent ceasefire’ in eastern Ukraine. Putin later said his views were ‘very close’ with Poroshenko on finding a political way out of the conflict. Elsewhere, the US Census Bureau reported earlier that factory orders rose 10.5% in July, below expectations for an increase of 11%, after a revised 1.5% rise in June, though markets largely viewed the data favorably, according to nasdaq.com