Major U.S. indexes were little changed at midday Thursday after Wednesday's big gains powered by strong bank earnings and a softer-than-expected inflation report.

But high medical costs contributed to results that disappointed Wall Street, and the company’s stock fell on the news that it had made less than analysts expected.

U.S. stock indexes drifted lower following a mixed set of earnings reports from Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealth Group and other big companies

Erin Wright, an analyst from Morgan Stanley, maintained the Buy rating on UnitedHealth (UNH – Research Report). The associated price target

The selloff in the healthcare giant's stock would shave more than 150 points off the Dow's price Shares of UnitedHealth Group ... the outside looking in," Morgan Stanley analyst Erin Wright ...

The selloff in UnitedHealth's stock can be blamed for Dow futures falling, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures are rising. The health giant's stock was sinking 3.2% in recent premarket trading, after

That prompted Andrew Witty, the chief executive of all of UnitedHealth (UNH), to write ... be helpful to us on the outside looking in," Morgan Stanley analyst Erin Wright wrote.

Analyst Erin Wright from Morgan Stanley maintained a Buy rating on UnitedHealth (UNH – Research Report) and keeping the price target at

Earnings Report 2.010 USD Q4 2021 Earnings Release 01/19/2022 Indices Commodities Currencies Stocks

The relatively modest moves for stocks came a day after they shot higher on hopes that an encouraging report on inflation may convince the Federal Reserve to deliver more cuts to interest rates this year. Treasury yields were also more placid in the bond market following mixed economic reports on Thursday..

The Global Equity composite fell 0.86% gross of fees in the fourth quarter, in line with the 0.89% decline of the MSCI ACWI Index.

Shares are mostly lower in Asia after China reported that its economy grew at a 5% annual pace last year, hitting the government's target but slowing from the year before.