U.S. stocks are falling Friday after a discouraging report suggested U.S. consumers are bracing for much higher inflation, while a separate update gave a mixed picture of the U.S. job market. The S&P 500 was 0.

Some calm is returning to Wall Street, and U.S. stock indexes are making only modest moves after much of Europe and Asia rose earlier in the day

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended higher while the Dow closed lower after a choppy trading session on Thursday, as investors sifted through earnings reports and awaited Amazon's results after the bell and a key jobs report on Friday.

Wall Street is drifting Thursday as gains for fashion brands and cigarette makers help offset drops for Ford Motor and Qualcomm following their latest profit reports. The S&P 500 was up 0.1% in afternoon trading following healthy gains for stock markets across much of Europe and Asia.

Wall Street shifted lower in early trading Wednesday as markets took in more corporate earnings reports while considering the impact of tariffs being imposed by the United States and China.