S&P 500 and Nasdaq higher in the stock market's busiest earnings day, but Dow pulled down by 3 million

U.S. stock standards moved sideways Thursday, though Dow was submerged by a tumble of $ 3 million amid a plethora of the company's quarterly results rolling out on Wall Street.

How are the big indexes going?

Dow Jones Industrial Average

DJIA, -0.18%

was 73 points, or 0.3%, lower, at 26,761, after a first burst higher in the open, with a decrease in the shares of Post-it maker 3M which weighed on index. The S&P 500 Index

SPX, + 0.10% ,

meanwhile was flat at 3,005, while the Nasdaq Composite Index

COMP, + 0.69%

added 46 points, or 0.6%, at 8.165.

On Wednesday, the Dow rose 45.85 points, or 0.2%, to finish at 26,833.95, while the S&P 500 index added 8.53 points to reach 3.004.52 a 0.3 %. Nasdaq Composite Index

COMP, + 0.69%

advanced 15.50 points, or 0.2%, to close at 8119.79.

What is driving the market?

Markets delivered some initial gain on Thursday as investors digested a wave of data and quarterly reports from some of the United States largest companies.

A quartet of Dow components and 45 of the companies that make up the S&P 500 index were set to deliver their latest quarterly update, in what will be the busiest day of the business revenue cycle. Investors had been somewhat skilled at outperforming dreaded results from Tesla Inc., Microsoft and a number of other high-profile companies, but the indices have receded as they approach all-time highs.

The difference in the markets reflects a split in the wealth of big companies, said Krishna Memani, vice president of investment in Invesco. Investors weigh 3M's comment suggesting "the industrial slowdown continues, as opposed to slowing down and slowing down," Memani said. In contrast, the companies operating the Nasdaq do "pretty well," he said.

Doug Cote, chief strategist at Voya Investment Management, said he remains bullish on the market in general, saying dirty investors have not been aware of positive signs in the economy.

"There is too much pessimism in the market," he said. "The market is focused on the headlines and really ignores the strong fundamentals underneath," he added, referring to healthy gross domestic product in the US and employment figures, as well as company earnings that have come out better than expected.

Of the 168 S&P 500 companies that have so far reported third quarter results, 80.4% of them have passed analysts' consensus estimates and 13.1% have fallen below estimates. In comparison, 65% of companies made estimates and 20% miss out, dating back to 1994, according to data from Refinitiv. However, economic reports were mixed on Thursday, with orders for durable goods falling 1.1% last month, the government said on Thursday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast a decline of 0.8%. The decline over the past 12 months dropped to 5.4%, marking the largest annual dropout since mid-2016. And sales of newly constructed homes in the US fell 0.7% on a monthly basis in September at a seasonally adjusted annual interest rate of 701,000, the government reported Wednesday.

Meanwhile, US initial unemployment requirements, a rough way to measure layoffs, fell by 6,000 to 212,000 during the seven days ended Oct. 19, and remained close to a 50-year low.

Investors paid little attention to the final statements of European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who delivered his final policy meeting during his term. His successor Christine Lagarde, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, was present at the police meeting, Draghi confirmed at a news conference.

Read: Draghi saves the euro, but leaves ECB at crossroads [19659011] Draghi leaves Lagarde a crazy ECB which saw split over monetary eases implemented last month, including a fresh amount of bond purchases. The European Central Bank set its interest rate on the deposit facility to minus 0.5% and the main lending rate at 0%. The rate-setting Governing Council reiterated that it expects to keep interest rates at "current or lower levels" until inflation, which has remained stubbornly low, "robust" converges with the target of close to but slightly below 2%. It also reiterated that it will launch a controversial bond procurement program at a pace of € 20 billion per month from November.

The ECB meeting comes ahead of the Federal Reserve's two-day political meeting on October 29-30. market participants are broadly expecting a third interest rate cut of 25 basis points in a row, as the central bank seeks to avert a downturn that has gripped much of the developed world.

Outside the United States, the German economy, the largest in the European Union, continues to struggle, new data released on Thursday shows that the difficulties of their export-oriented base extend to the service sector as global trade dries up.

IHS Markit flash German PMI production produced up to 41.9 in October from September ten-year 41.7, which is still a reading showing the factory part of the country's economy in serious difficulties. Readings below 50 indicate contraction.

Which shares are in focus?

Tesla shares

TSLA, + 17.13%

was up more than 16% after the electric car manufacturer surprised investors by reporting a third-quarter profit, and alllay investors' fear that it prioritized growth and production over profits .

Opinion: Tesla is profitable again. How long will it last this time?

Check out: Tesla bull celebrates 'Picasso-like' quarter, but others question whether profits can be maintained

Microsoft Corp. .

Ford Motor Co.