S&P 500 ends choppy session little changed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended little changed after a volatile session on Thursday, as investors favoured defensive sectors while the biggest drag came from financials and consumer discretionary stocks.

Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 70.11 points, or 0.29 percent, to 24,597.38, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 0.04 points, or -0.00 percent, to 2,651.03, and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 27.41 points, or 0.39 percent, to 7,070.90.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Leslie Adler)