By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed near record levels on Thursday as Europe indicated support for additional measures to support the economy, if necessary, though some weak corporate results limited the market's advance.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Thursday the ECB's governing council was unanimous in its commitment to using additional unconventional measures to support the economy. Accommodative policies from central banks around the world have fueled equity gains in recent years. While the U.S. Federal Reserve recently ended its bond-buying stimulus program, the Bank of Japan last week ramped up its own package of incentives.
"The European economy is getting worse, but Draghi presented a united front and said we can expect more action if necessary," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut.
"He brought more clarity, but there's still more to come out, and it isn't healthy to focus on hopes for stimulus instead of fundamentals."
Genworth Financial plummeted 36 percent to $8.97 in heavy trading, its biggest one-day drop since November 2008 during the financial crisis. The selloff came a day after it unexpectedly swung to a massive loss in its latest quarter.
Tom McInerney, Genworth's chief executive, said he was "very disappointed" by the results of its U.S. life insurance division. He said Thursday the company would forgo dividends from that division for the rest of the year and into 2015..
Qualcomm Inc slumped 9.7 percent to $69.73 a day after it said an antitrust investigation and problems collecting royalties could harm its business in China next year. It also disclosed new regulatory investigations in the United States and Europe and reported results.
On the upside, Whole Foods Market Inc jumped 10 percent to $44.04 after its results beat expectations on Wednesday, boosted by gains in market share and new product launches. The stock was on track for its biggest one-day advance since May 2013.
Jobless claims fell more than expected in the latest week, the second positive read on the U.S. labor market following Wednesday's ADP report on private sector employment. Both could raise hopes for Friday's closely watched data on payrolls.
Tesla Motors Inc rose 5.1 percent to $242.50, following its third-quarter results that beat expectations a day earlier.
At 9:58 a.m. (1458 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.8 points, or 0.02 percent, to 17,488.33, the S&P 500 lost 2.89 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,020.68 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.21 points, or 0.05 percent, to 4,618.52.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,478 to 1,272, for a 1.16-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 1,162 issues rose and 1,121 fell for a 1.04-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.
The benchmark S&P 500 index was posting 41 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 49 new highs and 31 new lows.
(Editing by Bernadette Baum)
