Wall Street's main indexes were mostly flat on Thursday after recording all-time closing highs in the previous session, with focus on the monthly employment report due on Friday as markets mostly brushed off weekly jobless claims data.

The crucial nonfarm payrolls report, scheduled for release before markets open, could be key in gauging the Federal Reserve's interest rate trajectory.

Eric Clark, portfolio manager at the Rational Dynamic Brands Fund, said the market could get a rate cut in December but the Fed might be more cautious going forward.

"They have already hinted about being very slow and methodical about cutting interest rates ... at some point the market will probably make that realization and put things that were tied to rate cuts on sale."

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appeared to signal support for a slower pace of interest-rate cuts ahead when he spoke on Wednesday, while San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said there was "no sense of urgency" on reducing borrowing costs further.

Comments from Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin are due later in the day.

On the day, data showed the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased moderately last week, suggesting that the labor market continued to cool.

At 11:32 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), 105.25 points, or 0.23%, to 44,908.79, the S&P 500 (.SPX), lost 1.80 points, or 0.03%, to 6,084.84 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), gained 17.50 points, or 0.09%, to 19,752.62.

Source : Reuters