Nine-day Dow Winning Streak On Line As U.S. Stocks Open Mostly Lower

Stocks opened mostly lower Thursday, putting the Dow industrials on track to end a nine-session win streak -- the index's longest such streak since March 2013. Investors focused on the European Central Bank meeting, at which benchmark interest rates were left unchanged, while a flurry of economic data in the U.S. reflected moderate but steady growth. A barrage of earnings results drove individual stocks, while a drop in oil prices also weighed on sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 10 points, less than 0.1%, to 18,581, the S&P 500 index lost less than a point, or less than 0.1% at 2,173, while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 3 points, or 0.1%, to 5,092. Among individual stocks, Southwest Airlines Co.dropped nearly 10% after weaker-than-expected earnings, while General Motors Co. jumped 4% toward a three-month high after strong quarterly results. Qualcomm shares surged 7% following quarterly results.