U.S. stocks retreat late afternoon but S&P 500 notched a record close amid earnings

U.S. stocks ended little changed on Thursday with most early gains erased later in the session, as investors took in a number of quarterly earnings and conflicting reports on jobless calims and the housing market.

Investors got some good news about jobs. The Labor Department reported weekly applications for unemployment aid dropped 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 284,000 claims. That`s the lowest reading since February 2006, nearly two years before the Great Recession began.

Home builder stocks slid Thursday after the government reported that new home sales sagged 8.1 percent last month. The report also revised down the May sales rate. Shares of Pulte Homes fell 3 percent while Toll Brothers and KB Home fell 4 percent.

-The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.02% or 2.83 points to 17083.80

-The S&P 500 Index gained 0.05% or 0.97 points to 1987.98

-The NASDAQ Composite Index fell 0.04% or 1.59 points to 4472.11

The S&P 500 Index notched another record high at the closing, with Facebook Inc. rallying on a strong quarterly earnings report.

Facebook rose $4.11, or 6 percent, to $75.41 after reporting a profit late Wednesday that beat expectations. Mobile advertising, a crucial business for the world`s largest social media company, saw major growth in the quarter.

Industrial stocks were the worst performers after mixed earnings in that sector.

Dow member Caterpillar fell $3.60, or 3 percent, to $104.78, making it the biggest decliner among the 30 companies that make up the blue-chip average. The equipment maker`s quarterly profit rose 4.1 percent, but its revenue fell short of forecasts.

Ford rose 6 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $17.84 after reporting a 6 percent increase in second-quarter earnings to $1.3 billion. The automaker was helped by increased sales in Europe. General Motors fell $1.31, or 4 percent, to $36.10 after announcing an 85-percent drop in quarterly earnings. The company, which is in the midst of the worst recall crisis in its history, posted a net profit of $190 million.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note nudged up to 2.51 percent from 2.47 percent late Wednesday. Bond yields rise when prices fall. U.S. crude oil fell $1.05 to $102.07 a barrel in New York.