Stocks end lower, held down by industrials

U.S. stock indexes finished mostly lower Thursday as disappointing earnings reports from several industrial sector companies weighed on the market, offsetting strong results from Facebook, Microsoft and others.

3M, which makes Post-it notes and many other products, plunged 12.9 percent in heavy trading after announcing weak results and a restructuring program. It was the biggest loss for the company since the market crash of October 1987.

The loss for 3M pulled the Dow Jones Industrial Average into the red. The S&P 500 finished slightly lower, holding close to the record high it set on Tuesday.

Facebook and Microsoft both rose after reporting strong earnings. That helped the Nasdaq eke out a small gain.

The indexes’ mixed finish gave the benchmark S&P 500 index its second modest loss in as many days. The market remains on track for solid gains this month.

Traders have grown more optimistic that most companies will continue to deliver strong growth this year, despite some signs that point to a slowing global economy.

“Earnings are flowing, and we’re going to see a positive earnings season,” said Karyn Cavanaugh, senior markets strategist, Voya Investment Management. If (the market) keeps going up, up, up, then that kind of makes you a little skeptical. The fact that investors are being a little bit more selective, that’s a good sign.”

The S&P 500 slipped 1.08 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,926.17. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 134.97 points, or 0.5 percent, to 26,462.08. Without the loss from 3M, the Dow would have been 58 points higher.

The Nasdaq composite rose 16.67 points, or 0.2 percent, to 8,118.68.

Small-company stocks fared worse than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 index gave up 12.52 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,575.61.

Major European indexes finished lower.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10 year Treasury note rose to 2.53 percent from 2.52 percent late Wednesday.

Earnings reporting season is more than a third of the way in, and investors are searching for clues about whether profit growth can accelerate later this year following a weak first quarter. The stock market has had a furious rally this year, largely because the Federal Reserve has said that it is halting its plan to raise interest rates, at least temporarily.