Investing.com -- The S&P 500 eked out a gain Thursday, as investors awaited further catalysts, a day ahead of a closed-monitored inflation measure that will likely play a role in the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting meeting next week.
At 4:00 p.m. ET (20:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 31 points, or 0.1%, the S&P 500 gained 0.1%, and the NASDAQ Composite climbed 0.2%.
Weekly jobless claims decline; inflation data eyed
The number of Americans applying for first-time unemployment benefits declined to a three-year low last week.
Seasonally-adjusted initial jobless claims came in at 191,000 in the week ending on November 29, according to Labor Department data. It was a decrease of 27,000 from an upwardly-revised level of 218,000 in the prior week, and the lowest mark since September 2022.
The labor market comes ahead of key inflation data slated for Friday.
"The latest read on inflation is likely to intensify the ongoing debate among Fed officials as to their next policy move with the PCE potentially the deciding factor for the Fed regarding the lingering inflationary threats, and furthermore, whether a December rate cut is warranted," Stifel said in a note.
Adding to the dovish sentiment is growing speculation over the next Fed leadership. Reports that the Trump administration abruptly cancelled interviews with other Fed chair candidates have strengthened the view that Kevin Hassett -- widely perceived as more dovish than current chair Jerome Powell -- could take the helm in 2026.
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Salesforce lifts 2026 guidance
In the corporate sector, Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) shares rose after the software company lifted its fiscal 2026 revenue and adjusted income guidance.
Underpinning the upbeat outlook were projections for strong growth in demand for the group’s AI-enhanced agent platform, especially among its enterprise clients.
Five Below (NASDAQ:FIVE) stock also climbed after the value retailer reported third-quarter earnings that significantly beat analyst expectations, driven by robust comparable sales growth and successful store expansion.
By contrast, Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) stock dropped sharply after the cloud-based data storage stock provided a slightly disappointing outlook for its product revenue growth for the January quarter.
Elsewhere, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) rose 3% after Bloomberg News reported that Meta is expected to make up to 30% budget cuts for its Metaverse initiative. The update comes as Brussels opened a new antitrust investigation into the tech giant over its rollout of artificial intelligence features in WhatsApp, the European Commission said on Thursday, reflecting rising scrutiny of Big Tech’s use of generative AI.
Kroger Company (NYSE:KR), meanwhile, fell after reporting third-quarter revenue that fell short of estimates.
Peter Nurse, Ayushman Ojha contributed to this article
