U.S. stock indexes drifted lower following a mixed set of earnings reports from Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealth Group and other big companies

ByThe Associated Press

U.S. stock indexes drifted lower following a mixed set of earnings reports from Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealth Group and other big companies.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% Thursday, even though more stocks rose than fell within the index. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.9%.

Stocks had shot higher the day before on hopes that an encouraging report on inflation may convince the Federal Reserve to deliver more cuts to interest rates. Treasury yields eased in the bond market following some mixed reports on the U.S. economy.

On Thursday:

The S&P 500 fell 12.57 points, or 0.2%, to 5,937.34.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 68.42 points, or 0.2%, to 43,153.13.

The Nasdaq composite fell 172.94 points, or 0.9%, to 19,338.29.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 3.50 points, or 0.2%, to 2,266.79.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is up 110.30 points, or 1.9%.

The Dow is up 1,214.68 points, or 2.9%.

The Nasdaq is up 176.66 points, or 0.9%.

The Russell 2000 is up 77.56 points, or 3.5%.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 55.71 points, or 0.9%.

The Dow is up 608.91 points, or 1.4%.

The Nasdaq is up 27.50 points, or 0.1%.

The Russell 2000 is up 36.63 points, or 1.6%.