US stocks were little changed on Thursday as investors waited for a Jerome Powell speech to set the tone for interest-rate cuts and assessed the impact of a Republican sweep of political power.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) ticked up 0.2%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was flat. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was also little changed, coming off a mixed day for the three major gauges.

Though the mood is muted, stocks are still riding high near records after the latest consumer inflation data kept hopes for a December rate cut aloft. That optimism broadly held after a reading on wholesale inflation showed prices firmed slightly more than expected in October.

Initial jobless claims fell last week to 217,000, their lowest level since May, and less than 220,000 expected by economists.

Focus is on how the Federal Reserve chair sees inflation developing, as investors gauge the odds of rates going back to staying higher for longer. The market is already weighing the potential upward pressure on prices from President-elect Donald Trump's policies.

Read more: What the Fed rate cut means for bank accounts, CDs, loans, and credit cards

Republicans held onto their slim majority in the House of Representatives, handing Trump and his party a "trifecta" — unified control of power across Washington. The sweep limits curbs on implementing the incoming president's aggressive economic agenda, which has helped spur the post-election breakneck rally in stocks.

Worries about Trump's America-first plans helped drag Chinese stocks down as much as 20% from their October high in Hong Kong, with tech hardest hit.

In corporates, Disney's (DIS) quarterly earnings beat estimates as its streaming unit swung to a profit. The stock jumped 8% in early trading after revenue also topped Wall Street expectations.

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