Stock indexes edge lower on Wall Street in choppy trading

Stocks edged lower in choppy trading Friday afternoon, shedding modest early gains, as Wall Street closed out a milestone-setting week.

The S&P 500 was down 0.1% as of 3:15 p.m. Eastern, after wavering between small gains and losses. The benchmark index is coming off its third record high this week and is on track to end October with a 6.6% gain, which would be the index's best month since last November.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 15 points, or less than 0.1%, to 35,723 and the Nasdaq slipped less than 0.1%. The indexes also remain on track to notch a weekly gain.

Decliners outnumbered gainers in the S&P 500 index, with real estate stocks, banks and a mix of companies that rely on consumer spending accounting for a big share of the losses. Health care, communication services and technology companies rose.

Bond yields were mostly lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 1.55% from 1.56% late Thursday.

Investors continued to focus on corporate earnings as they look for clues for how companies are managing persistent supply chain disruptions and rising inflation. A wide range of companies have warned that they are facing higher costs and will have trouble meeting a surge in demand for products.

Apple fell 2.3% a day after the iPhone maker reported that its fiscal fourth-quarter revenue fell short of analysts’ forecasts because supply shortages are making it difficult to meet demand. Internet retail behemoth Amazon shed 2.9% after higher costs and supply chain problems crimped its third-quarter financial results and its revenue forecast.

The warnings from Apple and Amazon raise concerns that the economic recovery faces a bumpier road ahead through the holiday shopping season as people pay more for products and wait longer to receive everything from everyday purchases to gifts.

The latest data from the Commerce Department shows that consumer spending grew just 0.6% in September, a cautionary sign for an economy that remains in the grip of a pandemic and a prolonged bout of high inflation.

Investors are wrapping up a busy week of earnings with several large companies reporting mixed results. Starbucks fell 7.3% after reporting solid fiscal fourth-quarter profits, but weak revenue. U.S. Steel jumped 12.9% after the steel maker reported strong third-quarter financial results and raised its dividend.

Newell Brands, maker of Rubbermaid and other consumer products, rose 4.4% after reporting solid third-quarter results.

AbbVie rose 4.4%, one of the big gainers among health care companies in the S&P 500, after the drugmaker reported strong third-quarter financial results and raised its profit forecast for the year.

Outside of earnings, world leaders of the Group of 20 large and fast-growing economies are meeting in Rome. Wall Street is also looking ahead to next week's meeting of The Federal Reserve as the central bank moves closer to trimming bond purchases that have helped keep interest rates low.