U.S. stocks drifted between small gains and losses in morning trading Thursday as traders sized up the latest batch of corporate earnings and outlooks. Health care stocks were among the biggest decliners after UnitedHealth Group cut its earnings forecast. Payments company Square soared in its market debut.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose two points to 17,739 as of 11:16 a.m. Eastern Time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped a point, less than 0.1 percent, to 2,083. The Nasdaq composite added seven points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,082. The market is coming off its biggest gain in four weeks.
SECTOR VIEW: Eight of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500 index rose, with technology stocks leading the gainers. Health care slumped the most.
BAD MEDICINE: UnitedHealth Group fell 4.2 percent after the nation's largest health insurer cut its 2015 earnings forecast. The company also said it would pull back on the marketing of its exchange business a few weeks after open enrollment for that coverage began nationwide. It also said that it will decide in the first half of next year to what extent it can continue to serve the public health insurance exchange markets in 2017. The stock slid $4.89 to $112.36. Tenet Healthcare also slumped, sliding $2.56, or 7.8 percent, to $30.49.
HOLIDAY JITTERS: Best Buy dropped 4.9 percent after the big electronics retailer reported weak quarterly sales and a cautious outlook for the holiday shopping season. The stock lost $1.53 to $29.80.
TASTY RESULTS: J.M. Smucker jumped 7.5 percent after the food products company's latest quarterly earnings beat Wall Street's expectations. The stock rose $8.49 to $121.87.
STRONG QUARTER: Single-serve coffee brewing systems maker Keurig Green Mountain and customer-management software developer Salesforce.com each rose sharply after reporting better-than-expected earnings and revenue. Keurig vaulted $10.08, or 24.9 percent, to $50.58. Salesforce.com climbed $4.25, or 5.5 percent, to $81.60.
BIG DEBUT: Square made a big splash in its market debut. Shares in the startup known for its white, cube-shaped credit and debit card readers that plug into smartphones was up $4.24, or 47.1 percent, to $13.24.
ON THE JOB: The Labor Department reported that fewer Americans sought unemployment aid last week, the latest evidence that companies are confident enough in the economy to hold on to their workers. Weekly applications for jobless benefits dropped 5,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 271,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, increased 3,000 to 270,750.
OVERSEAS: In Europe, Germany's DAX gained 1 percent, while France's CAC-40 rose 0.1 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 climbed 0.9 percent. In Asia, China's main stock index rose 1.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.4 percent. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 1.1 percent, while South Korea's Kospi gained 1.3 percent. Australia's S&P/ASX200 added 2.1 percent.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 42 cents to $40.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 9 cents to $44.23 a barrel in London.
BONDS & CURRENCIES: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.24 percent from 2.27 percent late Wednesday. The euro rose to $1.0753 from $1.0647 while the dollar fell to 122.79 yen from 123.57 yen.