US stocks trade mixed as investors prepare to parse Fed minutes before heading into Thanksgiving holiday

• US stocks were mixed Wednesday as investors moved into the holiday-shortened week.
• Weekly jobless claims rose to their highest amount since mid-August.
• Minutes from the Fed's November meeting - when rates were raised for a 6th time this year - are on tap.

US stocks were mixed Wednesday as investors sifted through economic data and corporate updates before delving into a record of the Federal Reserve's November meeting when it raised interest rates for the sixth time this year.

A second consecutive day of gains for stocks was in question as Wall Street's major indexes wobbled. The S&P 500 a day ago closed above 4,000 for the first time since September 12, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished above 34,000 for the first time since August 16.

Stocks turned mixed Wednesday after the Labor Department said weekly jobless claims rose by 17,000 to 240,000. The increase was more than expected and the result marked the highest number of claims since August.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Wednesday:

• S&P 500: 4,001.97, down 0.04%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 34,125.76, up 0.08 (27.66 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 11,186.96, up 0.17%

"This is disappointing but not entirely a surprise," Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said in a note. "We are increasingly inclined to think that the trend in claims is now rising gently, as firms come under increasing pressure from the Fed's aggressive tightening."

Minutes of the Fed's meeting in November were set for release at 2 p.m. Eastern. As it continues to battle high inflation, the central bank kicked up the fed funds rate by another 75 basis points this month, to a range of 3.75% to 4%.

Separately, the Commerce Department said Wednesday durable goods orders rose 1% in October, outstripping the 0.4% consensus estimate. More data are due later Wednesday, including the first look at manufacturing activity for November.

On the move were Deere shares, up after the heavy equipment maker boosted its 2023 profit outlook to $8 billion to $8.5 billion. Nordstrom shares slumped after the upscale retailer cut its 2022 per-share earnings outlook to a range of $2.13 to $2.43. Credit Suisse's US-listed shares fell after the bank under restructuring warned of a fourth-quarter loss of up to 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.6 billion).

Equity trading will close early on Thursday, at 1 p.m. for Thanksgiving.

Here's what else is happening today:

• 'Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has slashed its stake in Chinese electric-vehicle make BYD - and has pulled in about $1.2 billion profit on the shares sold.
• A lawyer for FTX says a substantial amount of assets belonging to the bankrupt crypto exchange were either missing or stolen.
• Meanwhile, the court hearing FTX's bankruptcy petition was told the company spent around $300 million buying houses for senior executives in the Bahamas.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.7% to $78.73 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, lost 3% at $85.75.
• Gold slipped 0.1% to $1,737.60 per ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield fell 5 basis points to 3.77%.
• Bitcoin slipped 0.4% to $16,476.11.