Stocks Little Changed Ahead of Thanksgiving Holiday

U.S. Market
U.S. stocks ended little changed Wednesday, as investors digested this week's economic data, which may be positive enough to keep the Fed's potential December interest-rate hike on pace.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that the number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by 12,000 to 260,000 in week before Thanksgiving, keeping jobless claims near the lowest level in years.

Consumer spending rose slowly, at a seasonally adjusted pace of 0.1%, for the second month in a row, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. In addition, the Commerce Department also reported that new home sales rebounded in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 495,000.

The Dow and the S&P 500 were flat, and the Nasdaq was up 0.3%.

Stocks on the Move
Shares of HP Inc (HPQ) fell 13.7% after the company said it expects first-quarter and full-year earnings forecasts to be below analysts' expectations.

Deere & Co (DE) shares were up 4.8% after the equipment manufacturer reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, and said it expects earnings for the full year to exceed expectations as well. However, Deere also said it expects sales of its equipment to fall 7% in fiscal 2016, compared with the year before.

Foreign Markets
European markets were higher. The FTSE 100 was up 1.0%, the Paris CAC gained 1.5%, and Germany’s DAX rose 2.2%.

Asian shares were mixed. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.9%, and the Nikkei 225 and the Hang Seng were each down 0.4%.