US stocks dipped as investors continued to digest stubborn inflation data and a Republican sweep of Congress, as well as looking ahead to a speech from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI ) and the S&P 500 ( ^GSPC ) were muted, while the Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC ) was down nearly 0.2%.
This came after the latest inflation data , released on Wednesday, showed that while consumer prices grew by 2.6% in October as anticipated, this was still a slight uptick from the 2.4% recorded in September.
Investors will be looking ahead to Powell's speech on the economic outlook later in the day.
Wall Street is also digesting the Trump-led sweep of Congress, with the Republican party having held onto their slim majority in the House of Representatives.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 ( ^FTSE ) closed Thursday's session higher ahead of an announcement due later from UK chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The chancellor is set to reveal steps towards developing develop eight pension “ megafunds ” as part of reforms to Britain’s fragmented local government retirement scheme that she claims could unlock £80bn of investment. However, there are concerns that the plan could put people’s retirement savings in danger.
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