Wall Street flat as tech offsets manufacturing data

U.S. stocks were flat on Thursday, with gains in the tech sector offseting sluggish factory activity data and lower oil prices, as investors exercised caution ahead of a key payrolls report on Friday. A report from the Institute of Supply Management showed U.S. factory activity contracted for the first time in six months in August as new orders and production tumbled, but data on the labor market pointed to a pickup in third-quarter economic growth. "The ISM data was, in a word, disappointing, b