US Markets struggled on Thursday as the dollar gained but rally in financial shares and improvement in the retail sector helped blue chips to close higher.Investors remained uncertain ahead of Friday's jobs report.The 30-stock Dow Jones industrial average ended higher 0.31 percent,up 33.18 points to 10606.86. The broad Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 4.55 points, up 0.4 percent, to 1141.69.Nasdaq composite index down 1.04 points,down 0.05 percent, to 2300.05.CBOE Volatility Index was down 0.52 percent to settle at 19.06.

General Electric was helped by positive remarks from Morgan Stanley gained 5.2 percent,Bank of America gained 3.3 percent after Credit Suisse upgraded its rating on the stock,Alcoa was down 2.24 percent.

Gold prices ended lower to close at $1,134 as the dollar rose against the euro.Crude Oil settles below $83 a barrel.