NEW YORK -- Stocks ended an erratic day with a modest loss Thursday as investors tried to reconcile another batch of conflicting economic signals.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 30 points after falling as much as 110 and rising 87 during the course of the day. The other big market indexes also closed slightly lower.
Thursday's trading fit with the market's pattern over recent months. Investors are torn between upbeat earnings news from companies and reports that point to an uncertain recovery. That indecision was clear as stocks rose on strong earnings at Southwest Airlines, ExxonMobil and other companies, then fell on disappointment over a slight drop in first-time claims for unemployment benefits.
Traders were also uneasy ahead of the first reading on U.S. gross domestic product for the April-June quarter, to be released today.
"This is a market that is trying to ascertain how deep the downturn is going to be, and it is a market that's future-looking," said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist with Prudential Financial.
"It's looking at numbers five to six months from now, trying to get a portrait of the economy and where earnings are going to be. Until it gets clarity on that, it's going to be a choppy market."
There was little to help traders get that clarity Thursday. The Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped by a modest 11,000 to 457,000 last week.
That's slightly better than the 459,000 forecast by economists polled by Thomson Reuters, but investors were disappointed because the drop was so small.
The Dow fell 30.72, or 0.3 percent, to 10,467.16.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 4.60, or 0.4 percent, to 1,101.53. The Nasdaq composite index fell 12.87, or 0.6 percent, to 2,251.69.
