STOCKS were little changed, steadying from Wednesday's sudden tailspin as investors braced themselves for today's key report on January payroll and wage levels.

The technology-laden Nasdaq composite index, which tumbled 25 points on Wednesday, was pressured again by another big drop in Intel. The chipmaker's high-flying shares, which tumbled 7.25 points on Wednesday after two brokerage downgrades, fell in active Nasdaq issue. Microsoft also gave back more of this year's impressive advance.

In a prelude to the employment data, the Labour Department reported that the number of newly laid-off American workers filing claims for jobless benefits fell by 12,000 last week, the biggest drop in three weeks.

The department also issued a sharp downward revision of last week's estimate of the number of claims during the week ended January 25th.