Stocks closed mixed on Thursday as November's rally took a pause after the previous session's strong performance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 50 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite added 0.12% and 0.07%, respectively.

Here's how the market settled on Thursday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +0.12% or +5.36 points to 4,508.24

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): -0.13% or -45.74 points to 34,945.47

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +0.07% or +9.84 points to 14,113.67

Making headlines on Thursday, the United Auto Workers' deal with General Motors (GM  ) has been ratified be a majority of workers, according to voting results posted by the union on Thursday. Voting on similar contracts at Ford (F  ) and Stellantis (STLA  ) are still ongoing.

Elsewhere, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said Thursday that the U.S. can avoid a deep recession, but the burden of higher interest rates on small businesses, housing and lower-income still pose some risks.

"I believe that a soft landing is possible, with continued disinflation and a strong labor market, but it is not assured," she said in prepared remarks for a speech in San Francisco.

In economic news, initial unemployment claims rose more-than-expected to 231,000 for the week ended Nov. 11, according to the Labor Department's report on Thursday, rising 13,000 from the previous week and coming in ahead of analyst expectations. Continuing jobless claims also rose to 1.865 million, increasing by 32,000 over the previous week.

On the earnings front, Walmart (WMT  ) shares declined on Thursday after the retail giant issued lackluster guidance, expecting full-year adjusted earnings per share of $6.40 to $6.48.

"In the U.S., we may be managing through a period of deflation in the months to come and while that would put more unit pressure on us, we welcome it, because it's better for our customers," CEO Doug McMillon said during the company's earnings call on Thursday.

Macy's (M  ) shares rose Thursday after the apparel giant reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings and raised its full-year guidance. The company now expects the low end of its sales range to $22.9billion from the $22.8 billion previously projected.

Cisco Systems (CSCO  ) shares came under pressure after the communications company issued weak forward guidance for its current quarter and full year. The company expects adjusted earnings per share between $0.82 to $0.84 on $12.6 billion to $12.8 billion for its fiscal second quarter, and adjusted earnings of $3.87 to $3.93 per share on $53.8 billion to $55.0 billion for the full year.

In single-stock news, Amazon (AMZN  ) announced Thursday it will allow auto dealers to sell cars on its e-commerce website starting next year with Hyundai. The company said customers will be able to search for and purchase cars online, and then can either pick up of have their vehicle delivered by the local dealership.

Bank of America analyst Tl Liani downgraded Palo Alto Networks (PANW  ) to Neutral from Buy and slashed the firm's price target to $265 following the company's weaker-than-expected billings guidance.

"The high bar of expectations suggests risk of further deterioration to billings, in our view, but also a possible negative impact on FCF and challenges to hit the long-term growth targets," Liani wrote in a note to clients on Thursday.

For Friday, market participants will react to more Fedspeak, as well as economic data on housing starts and building permits for October.