Closing Bell: Box Slumps on Quarterly Results; U.S. Stocks Cautious

U.S. stocks managed to end with slight gains, though investors did appear cautious ahead of Friday's jobs report. Crude boosted equities after closing in the green for the first session in five. Cloud-computing company Box (BOX) - Get Report was sharply lower after reporting a slowdown in quarterly billings growth, a proxy measure of future performance. A disappointing quarter prompted JPMorgan to downgrade the shares to NEUTRAL from BUY. Franklin Resources (BEN) - Get Report stumbled after UBS cut its rating to SELL. Analysts said the recent pace of outflows confirmed previous concerns around the company's growth strategies. Exelon (EXC) - Get Report plans to shut two nuclear power plants in Illinois. The largest nuclear plant operator in the U.S. said the shutdowns were tied to a lack of progress on state legislation that would have made operations economically feasible. TheStreet's Keris Lahiff reports from Wall Street.