U.S. stocks closed mixed on Thursday as investors tended to be cautious before the closely- watched monthly non-farm payroll report.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 14.61 points, or 0.11 percent, to close at 13,060.14. The Standard & Poor's 500 was down 0.88 points, or 0.06 percent, to 1,398.08. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 12.41 points, or 0.40 percent, to 3,080.50.

Stock market was under pressure this week after the Fed released the latest minutes which disappointed investors. The minutes of the Fed's latest monetary policy meeting showed that the policymakers acknowledged recent signs of slightly stronger growth but still remained cautious about a broad pickup in U.S. economic activity.

Meanwhile, the minutes also signaled that the Fed is less willing to launch third round of quantitative easing policy, given the current growing economy.

Also, renewed concerns about the European debt crisis weighed on the market. Spain's government saw its debt to gross domestic product ratio will soar to 79.8 percent in 2012, the highest level since 1990. The country's labor market also concerns investors as the number of people filling for unemployment benefits rose by nearly 39,000 in March to over 4.75 million.

Spain and Italy saw their bonds' yields surged in this week's trading as investors doubted their abilities to pay back debt.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank this week decided to keep interest rate unchanged at a record low of 1 percent, as the central bank believed that the ultra-loose monetary policy was vital for the region's economic recovery.

However, U.S. economic reports this week came as relief, especially the economic data relating to the job market. The Automatic Data Processing Inc. reported that 209,000 jobs were added to private sectors in March, while the U.S. Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims decreased slightly to 357,000 last week, falling to the lowest level in four years. The upbeat job data helped to raise investors' confidence on the U.S. economy.

Investors also eyed monthly non-farm payroll report which is due out on Friday, hoping to grasp more evidence of the improvement of U.S. job market.

On other markets, oil price gained more than 1 percent to top 103 dollars a barrel on supply disruption concerns. The dollar gained against the euro on euro zone worry, while the gold price rebounded after two-day straight losses, boosted by risk-aversion appetite.