Stocks End Narrowly Mixed

U.S. stocks ended virtually flat on Thursday, on the comments of St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 24.50 points, or 0.15%, to 16,117.24.  The S&P 500 was up 0.27 point, or 0.01%, to 1,862.76.  The Nasdaq Composite added 2.07 points, or 0.05%, to 4,217.39.

The Federal Reserve should keep buying bonds for longer than planned in the face of volatile markets and falling inflation expectations, a top U.S. central banker said on Thursday.

Google reported earnings and revenue that fell short of Wall Street expectations. Google posted earnings per share of $6.35. Analysts had expected $6.53. Google reported revenue of $16.52 billion, just shy of the $16.57 billion analysts had projected.

A gauge of home-builder sentiment fell in October, the latest in a string of mixed signals for the U.S. housing recovery. An index of builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes declined by five points to a seasonally adjusted level of 54 in October, the National Association of Home Builders said Thursday. A reading over 50 means most builders generally see positive conditions.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) fell short of third-quarter expectations and announced job cuts.The company reported adjusted third-quarter earnings of 3 cents a share on revenue of $1.43 billion. AMD announced it will cut 7% of its global workforce by the end of the fourth quarter.