The S&P 500 was down 0.1% in midday trading, while Treasury yields were holding relatively steady and gold inched a bit further into record heights. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 96 points, or 0.4%, at 25,491, as of noon Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was down 0.5%.
Ecolab slumped 6.4% for one of the largest losses in the S&P 500 after it said its profit fell more steeply last quarter than analysts expected. The company sells sanitizing and other products to food service companies and other customers, and it was hurt by shutdowns in travel and dining due to the pandemic. It also said though, that it expects the latest quarter to mark the low point for the company.Among them was Pfizer, which climbed 4.2%.
The Fed helped launch the stock market's recovery in late March after slashing interest rates and promising to buy Treasurys, corporate bonds and other debt to prop up the economy. The S&P 500 is back to within 5% of its record set in February, after earlier being down nearly 34%.