The S&P 500 dipped Thursday even as second-quarter earnings results continued to beat expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrials remained in the red 18.06 points to pause for lunch at 34,915.17
The S&P 500 slipped 17.81 points to 4,356.49
The NASDAQ plummeted 116.95 points to 14,528.01.
The slight pullback in the S&P 500 came as the index hovered near its record high. The S&P 500 is already up 16% this year in anticipation of a big profit comeback.
Morgan Stanley's second-quarter earnings report topped analysts' expectations Thursday morning. Shares of the bank were lower after the market opened, then traded higher. Morgan Stanley's stock was up 35% this year going into the results.
On the economic beat, initial jobless claims for the week ending July 10 totaled 360,000, a new pandemic-era low, as expected by economists.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell began his second day of Congressional testimony, this time before the Senate banking panel.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys gained ground, lowering yields to 1.32% from Wednesday's 1.35%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 32 cents to $72.81 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices nicked 90 cents to $1,825.90 U.S. an ounce.