U.S. stocks drifted to a slightly lower finish Thursday, weighed down by falling energy stocks as the slump in oil deepened.
Chevron and Exxon Mobil were among the biggest decliners in the Dow Jones industrial average, which eased back from its latest all-time high. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index also slipped below its record high, set this week. The Nasdaq composite bucked the trend, creeping within 61 points of its dot-com era record close.
Expectations of rising oil supplies sent the price of crude to its lowest level in nearly a month. Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell $2.82 to close at $48.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Investors also had to sort through a mix of corporate earnings and U.S. economic reports.
“When you have a big move in the market, you expect to see it pull back a little bit, catch its breath and wait for that next catalyst to move higher,” said Quincy Krosby, market strategist for Prudential Financial.
The Dow ended down 10.15 points, or 0.1 percent, to 18,214.42. Among individual Dow members, Chevron lost $1.52, or 1.4 percent, to $107.06, while Exxon Mobil slid 95 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $88.65.
The S&P 500 index slipped 3.12 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,110.74. The Nasdaq gained 20.75 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,987.89.
The Dow and S&P 500 opened lower Thursday and held that course most of the day, while the Nasdaq gradually moved higher. The market’s trajectory took shape early on, as traders pored over corporate earnings and economic news.
The Commerce Department reported that orders for long-lasting manufactured goods rose 2.8 percent in January, the biggest increase since July. The Labor Department said that applications for unemployment benefits rose last week to a seasonally adjusted 313,000, the most in six weeks. That total is still consistent with steady hiring.
Six of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500 ended lower, with energy stocks declining 1.8 percent, the biggest drop in the index. The sector is now down 1.2 percent this year. Technology stocks led the gainers. They are up 3.9 percent this year.
