NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks were mixed on Thursday as investors continued to digest remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell a day earlier in his speech at the Brookings Institution and ahead of Friday's jobs report.

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

The technology sector did best in the U.S., with the Nasdaq Composite growing 14.45 points or 0.13 percent to 11,482.45.

The Dow Jones industrials declined 194.76 points or 0.56 percent to 34,395.01.

The Standard and Poor's 500 edged down 3.54 points or 0.09 percent to 4,076.57.

On foreign exchange markets, a wave of selling continued to haunt the greenback. The euro lept to 1.0517 by the New York close Thursday. The British pound surged to 1.2249. The Japanese yen soared more than two cents to 135.34. The Swiss franc strengthened to 0.9369.

The Canadian dollar inched up to 1.3431. The Australian and New Zealand dollars took off, surging to 0.6813 and 0.6374.

On overseas equity markets, the FTSE 100 in London dipped 0.19 percent. The German Dax gained 0.65 percent. The Paris-based CAC 40 gained 0.23 percent.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was ahead 0.92 percent. China's Shanghai Composite was up 0.45 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng advanced 0.75 percent.

The Australian All Ordinaries appreciated 0.98 percent. South Korea's Kospi Composite increased 0.30 percent.

In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 was off 0.19 percent.