STORY: U.S stocks were little changed at the end of trading on Thursday, with the Dow closing slightly lower, the S&P 500 rising a tenth of one percent and the Nasdaq adding two tenths of a percent.Investors weighed a report from the Labor Department that showed initial jobless claims dropped to their lowest level in more than three years, potentially reducing the odds of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week.But in the absence of the November jobs report, which was delayed by the government shutdown, some economists said Fed officials could lean more on the ADP and Revelio Labs reports, which offered a weaker picture of the labor market.Chris Konstantinos of RiverFront Investment Group says he expects the Fed to cut rates next week.“So in terms of what I think the Fed will do, I do believe they’re going to cut interest rates again next week. And I think it’s because even though we’re getting a lot of crosscurrents in the employment data, when you take a step back, the mosaic that emerges is that the labor market is indeed weakening. And I think the Fed is pretty laser focused on maintaining full employment without overheating the job market.”Markets are now pricing in an 87% chance the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points next week, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.Stocks on the move Thursday included Amazon, which dragged on the S&P 500 with shares falling nearly one and a half percent.Shares of Salesforce climbed more than three and a half percent after the company raised its revenue and profit forecasts, anticipating demand for its artificial intelligence agent platform.And shares of Kroger fell more than four and a half percent after the supermarket chain narrowed its annual sales forecast and missed quarterly sales estimates.