By Sue Chang and Ellie Ismailidou, MarketWatch

Dow industrials buck trend to end lower

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite logged modest gains Thursday as advances in Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. shares, following better-than-expected quarterly results, helped to offset losses in telecom and energy stocks.

Still, the three main stock-market indexes remained stuck in a relatively narrow trading range, with the S&P 500 moving in a 13-point band all session.

"Major indices remain in consolidation phases with no clear directional bias on a day-to-day basis," said Katie Stockton, chief technical strategist at BTIG, in a note.

The S&P 500 index rose 3.48 points, or 0.2%, to close at 2,170.06. A sixth straight decline (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-catch-a-small-break-from-a-weaker-dollar-2016-07-28) for oil futures weighed on energy, off 0.2%. Telecom stocks finished 0.7% lower led by a 3.3% loss in Level 3 Communications(LVLT).

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for a fourth-straight session, shedding 15.82 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 18,456.35, hamstrung by sharp losses in Boeing Co.(BA) and Caterpillar Inc.(CAT)

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 15.17 points, or 0.3%, to end at 5,154.98, boosted by a 1.4% gain in Apple Inc. (AAPL). Upbeat results from Facebook Inc. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebook-posts-huge-revenue-beat-2016-07-27)(FB) also supported the Nasdaq after the company late Wednesday beat Wall Street expectations. The Nasdaq is off 1.2% from its record close, which was set July 20, 2015.

Tempering enthusiasm for Facebook somewhat, the Menlo Park, Calif. company's chief financial officer, Dave Wehner, said he expects lower ad-revenue growth in the next two quarters and just modest growth in its ad load. Still, shares of Facebook finished up 1.4% and surpassed the market capitalization (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebook-races-past-berkshire-hathaways-market-cap-2016-07-28)of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA).

Read:Facebook's rapid growth is about to slow down (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebooks-rapid-growth-is-about-to-slow-down-2016-07-27)

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebooks-rapid-growth-is-about-to-slow-down-2016-07-27)Stocks' muted moves come a day after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday decided to leave interest rates unchanged but hinted at a possible rate rise as soon as September. The central bank said near-term risks to the economic outlook have diminished.

"The stock market is facing a reality check this week," said Kristina Hooper, U.S. investment strategist for Allianz Global Investors.

"Post-Brexit euphoria that drove up stocks was not based on fundamentals, but on the assumption that monetary policy would remain extremely accommodative. Now that it seems clear that September is very much a live meeting for the Fed, investors seem to be a bit more hesitant," she said.

The potential increase in rates weighed on telecom, the market's big winner this year, up 20% year to date.

"Telecom and utilities have been the place where fixed-income investors have gone to hide," while government-bond yields recently tumbled to all-time lows," said Kim Forrest, senior portfolio manager at Fort Pitt Capital. Now that "a September rate hike is on the table, though December is more probable," she said defensive stocks are taking a hit.

More broadly, with equity valuations at historical highs and earnings reports coming in mixed, "all the market wants to know is whether the earnings recession is ending," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial, pointing to the main benchmarks' inability to push reach new records over the last few sessions.

But others said it is a good sign that the market hasn't imploded after a run that sent the S&P 500 and the Dow to all-time highs.

"Simply seeing the range remain intact has been a constructive phenomenon: the longer the [S&P] moves sideways after an almost 10% move, the greater the odds that another up leg results," said Frank Cappelleri, technical analyst at Instinet, in an email.

On the economic front, the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-climb-14000-to-266000-2016-07-28)last week rose from historical lows, while the nation's trade gap widened in June to $63.3 billion, as imports rose faster than exports. Meanwhile, wholesale inventories were unchanged and retail inventories inched higher.

Stocks to watch: Shares of ConocoPhilips (COP) gained 0.5% despite reporting a bigger loss than expected. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/conocophillip-loss-widens-as-revenue-slumps-36-2016-07-28)

Harley-Davidson Inc.(HOG) gained 0.9% after the company beat on both profit and revenue (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjY3P-mkZbOAhUDTCYKHVGmBs8QqQIILTAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.marketwatch.com%2Fstory%2Fharley-davidson-beats-on-earnings-revenue-lowers-2016-motorcycle-shipment-guidance-2016-07-28&v6u=https%3A%2F%2Fs-v6exp1-ds.metric.gstatic.com%2Fgen_204%3Fip%3D205.203.130.22%26ts%3D1469708091514619%26auth%3Dol6dpt42mbijwgltfzjjxqkdfopmhwzt%26rndm%3D0.7774477069103305&v6s=2&v6t=5112&usg=AFQjCNG1hOjwMybsdl4OL7kojLkSNvrvaw&sig2=KsifhvXI0hzUzuk2isGAhQ&bvm=bv.128450091,bs.2,d.dmo).

Hershey Co. (HSY) rallied 2.9% after the company swung to a profit in the second quarter (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjUqaiykZbOAhWD3SYKHWGQAVsQqQIIMTAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.marketwatch.com%2Fstory%2Fhershey-co-beats-second-quarter-earnings-expectations-2016-07-28&usg=AFQjCNG6tO8gVxg-k6yqBqTCEYiDGTeLfg&sig2=b8nvyO71rUAmRmkBzu0qXA&bvm=bv.128450091,bs.2,d.dmo). (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjUqaiykZbOAhWD3SYKHWGQAVsQqQIIMTAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.marketwatch.com%2Fstory%2Fhershey-co-beats-second-quarter-earnings-expectations-2016-07-28&usg=AFQjCNG6tO8gVxg-k6yqBqTCEYiDGTeLfg&sig2=b8nvyO71rUAmRmkBzu0qXA&bvm=bv.128450091,bs.2,d.dmo)

Shares of MasterCard Inc. (MA) climbed 2.4%, after the payments-processing company beat second-quarter profit and revenue expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mastercards-stock-jumps-after-profit-sales-beat-expectations-2016-07-28).

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebook-posts-huge-revenue-beat-2016-07-27)Shares of Whole Foods Market Inc (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/whole-foods-profit-falls-sales-slip-2016-07-27-18485051).(WFM) plunged 9% after the grocer gave a weak forecast for the current quarter as it booked a fourth-straight quarterly profit fall on Wednesday.

GoPro Inc (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gopro-reports-loss-but-results-beat-estimates-2016-07-27).(GPRO) swung to a loss, but results still beat expectations, and shares jumped nearly 13%. Groupon Inc (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/groupon-shares-surge-as-results-top-expectations-2016-07-27-174852644).(GRPN) soared 29% after posting better-than-expected results late on Wednesday.

Read:Alphabet earnings bring concern about Google search growth, revenue (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/alphabet-earnings-bring-concern-about-google-search-growth-revenue-2016-07-26)

Other markets: The Nikkei 225 index (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-fall-ahead-of-bank-of-japan-meeting-2016-07-27) slipped 1.1% as investors remained cautious about a potential stimulus plan. The Bank of Japan will wrap up its policy meeting Friday, and some investors expect it to join forces with the government to announce a big batch of stimulus measures.

As the Nikkei fell, the yen moved up against rival currencies, pushing the dollar (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-pulls-back-vs-yen-as-investors-await-boj-outcome-2016-07-28) lower.

European stocks retreated amid a batch of earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-wobble-as-avalanche-of-earnings-reports-rolls-in-2016-07-28).

Gold prices settled higher as investors took the view that the Fed won't raise interest rates as early as September.

Check out: Why gold prices spiked after the Fed decision (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-gold-prices-spiked-after-the-fed-decision-2016-07-27)

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/brexit-beats-oil-low-growth-as-hot-topic-during-europes-earnings-season-2016-07-28)--Barbara Kollmeyer and Sara Sjolin contributed to this article.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 28, 2016 17:01 ET (21:01 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.