CATCo Share News (CAT)

* Tariffs will not necessarily spark a trade war, saysNavarro

* Industrial stocks gain for first time in four sessions

* Alibaba up on report of China listing plans

* Dollar General up after results

* Dow up 0.47 pct, S&P down 0.08 pct, Nasdaq off 0.2 pct(Updates to close)

By April Joyner

NEW YORK, March 15 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended slightlylower on Thursday after a report that U.S. Special CounselRobert Mueller had issued a subpoena for documents related toU.S. President Donald Trump's businesses offset strong jobs andmanufacturing data.

The S&P fell to a session low soon after the report was released but recovered much of its losses by themarket close. It has fallen for four straight days, its longestlosing streak since December.

The Dow pared some gains but still ended higher for thefirst time in four days.

As earnings season has drawn to a close, politicaldevelopments, such as the ouster of Secretary of State RexTillerson this week, have significantly influenced the directionof U.S. stocks.

"The market is looking to bite on something to push it outof its trading range," said Mark Luschini, chief investmentstrategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.

Earlier, the S&P had opened with gains as government datashowed weekly U.S. jobless claims fell last week, pointing to astrong labor market. Manufacturing surveys from the New York Fedand Philadelphia Fed also pointed to a tightening labormarket.

It also got a boost after Peter Navarro, the White House'stop adviser on international trade, said in a CNBC interviewTrump's tough approach to global trade, including tariffs onmetals imports, would not necessarily provoke retaliation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 115.54 points,or 0.47 percent, to close at 24,873.66, the S&P 500 lost2.15 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,747.33 and the NasdaqComposite dropped 15.07 points, or 0.2 percent, to7,481.74.

The S&P industrial index, however, rose 0.3percent, leading all sectors, and posted its first session ofgains in four days as worries of a trade war eased. Caterpillarwas up 1.3 percent.

Among stocks, Alibaba jumped 3.4 percent on areport that the Chinese e-commerce company was planning asecondary listing in China.

Dollar General rose 4.8 percent after the discountretailer's quarterly same-store sales beatestimates.

Qorvo tumbled 3.9 percent after Bank of Americasaid the radio frequency chipmaker could lose out to Broadcomfor a spot in upcoming iPhones.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a1.71-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.31-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.65 billion shares, comparedto the 7.08 billion average over the last 20 trading days.(Additional reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editingby Arun Koyyur and James Dalgleish)