NEW YORK — Stocks drifted to a mixed finish Thursday as Wall Street's momentum slowed following its hot first half of November.
The S&P 500 edged up by 5.36 points, or 0.1%, to 4,508.24 and remains comfortably on track for its third straight winning week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 45.74 points, or 0.1%, to 34,945.47, and the Nasdaq composite gained 9.84 points, or 0.1%, to 14,113.67.
Walmart weighed on the market with an 8.1% drop after it warned that shoppers began pulling back on spending late last month. The nation's largest retailer also gave a forecast for upcoming holiday profit that was weaker than analysts expected.
Cisco Systems tumbled 9.8% even though it also reported stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts estimated. The company saw a slowdown of new product orders last quarter, and its forecasts were weaker than analysts expected.
Stocks in the oil-and-gas industry were particularly weak after the price of crude tumbled sharply to its lowest since July. Marathon Petroleum dropped 3.5%, and Halliburton fell 3.3%.
A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude for delivery in December tumbled $3.76 to settle at $72.90. Brent crude, the international standard, also dropped $3.76, to $77.42 per barrel.
November remains on track to be the S&P 500's best month in a year on rising hopes for a "Goldilocks" economy that's just right for markets.
Investors are betting inflation is cooling enough to convince the Federal Reserve to halt its hikes to interest rates following its fusillade since last year.
Several more reports Thursday indicated a slowing economy. For investors, the reports could be a sign that upward pressure on inflation is easing.
One report said slightly more workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. Separate reports said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region is unexpectedly weakening, while U.S. industrial production weakened more than expected in October.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.44% from 4.54% late Wednesday. Just last month, it was above 5% at its highest level since 2007. Lower yields offer more breathing space for financial markets, and 45% of the stocks in the S&P 500 rose.
Macy's jumped 5.7% after delivering a surprising profit for the latest quarter. Sonos leaped 17.1% on speculation that it may start selling headphones in the second half of its fiscal year, which could be a meaningful new business.
In stock markets abroad, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.3% after Japan reported that its exports rose a meager 1.6% in October, down from September's growth.
Indexes were mixed across the rest of Asia and Europe.
