U.S. stocks closed mixed Thursday ahead of the release of a key jobs report and the Federal Reserve's monthly meeting to consider interest rate increases.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 194.76 points, or 0.56%, to close at 34,395.01. The S&P 500 fell 3.54 points, or 0.09%, to close at 4,076.57, and the Nasdaq rose 14.45 points, or 0.13%, to close at 11,482.45.

U.S. markets surged Wednesday after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled a rate increase of 0.5%, rather than 0.75%, was likely to be decided at the central bank's monthly meeting on Dec. 13-14. The Nasdaq jumped 4.41% and the Dow rose 2.18%.

But the Dow gave back some of its gains Thursday. Salesforce (CRM) was one of the biggest decliners. The cloud-based business software company's price of shares plunged more than 8% after co-CEO Bret Taylor announced he would step down.

The Labor Department is scheduled on Friday to release its non-farm jobs report, a key indicator of inflation watched closely by the Federal Reserve. and Economists polled by Dow Jones expect the U.S. added 200,000 jobs in November, which would be a decrease from the 261,000 gained in the prior month.

Some stocks that saw declines Thursday included Costco (COST), which closed at $503.86, down $35.39, or 6.56%. Archer-Daniels Midland's (ADM) price of shares fell $6.17, or 6.33%, to close at $91.33.

"It looks more technical and just looks like an exhale from yesterday's big push," Dave Grecsek, managing director of investment strategy and research at Aspiriant, told CNBC.