By Anora Mahmudova and Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks pared opening losses on Thursday, as investors focused on a mixed bag of company earnings and economic data.

Microsoft shares surged on its plans to cut up to 18,000 jobs. But SanDisk, Mattel and AutoNation tumbled following disappointing earnings.

The S&P 500 (SPX) reversed early losses and was a point higher at 1,981.11. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was flat at 17,135.61 after setting an intraday record earlier in the session.

The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) rose a point to 4,413.85.

"It appears that after strong gains in June, investors are using any excuse to take some money off the table. We had lackluster jobless claims and poor housing data and news out of Ukraine and Russia. But 'buy the dip' mentality is still prevalent in this market," said Joe Bell, senior equity analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Investors woke up to renewed geopolitical risks after news reports that a Ukrainian fighter jet was shot down by missiles from a Russian plane. On Wednesday, the U.S. unveiled a new round of sanctions against Russia, targeting companies such as oil giant Rosneft and Gazprombank ONO. The European Union said it will detail new sanctions against Russia by the end of this month. European stocks fell sharply on Thursday. Read: Russian stocks pounded after U.S. imposes new sanctions.

In the U.S., the number of people who applied for jobless benefits fell to the lowest level in nine weeks. But construction on new U.S. homes was far weaker than expected, tumbling to the slowest pace in nine months.

A July reading on activity among regional manufacturers is slated for release at 10 a.m. Eastern by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Economists expect to see the result weaken to 16.5 from 17.8 in June, which was the highest level since September.

Microsoft plans major lay-offs, SanDisk results disappoint

In corporate news, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) shares rallied 3% after the tech company said it would cut 18,000 jobs over the next year in a bid to simplify operations and integrate its Nokia Devices and Services business. It also said it would take a restructuring charge between $1.1 billion and $1.6 billion over the next year.

Blackstone Group L.P. (BX) reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings on the back of gains from asset sales in its private-equity business. The shares rose 2.4%.

Mattel (MAT) shares fell 5.4% as quarterly earnings were dragged lower by muted sales of Barbie dolls.

SanDisk (SNDK) shares sank 10% after the flash-memory maker's third-quarter revenue forecast was lighter than anticipated. Read more about the day's notable movers here.

After trading closes Thursday, Google (GOOG) is expected to post earnings of $6.25 a share on revenue of $12.3 billion. Read NEED TO KNOW: Janet Yellen might disagree, but Amazon tapped as screaming buy.

Investors will monitor comments from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who is slated to speak in Kentucky about monetary policy at 1:35 p.m. Eastern Time. Bullard said in a Bloomberg interview last week that a continued decline in U.S. unemployment could push inflation above the Fed's 2% target by the end of 2015. Bullard isn't a voting member of the Fed's policy-making committee.

In the commodities market, August crude-oil futures (CLQ4) rose $1.45 to $102.70 a barrel, and gold futures (GCQ4) picked up $5.5 to $1,305 an ounce.

Asian stocks overnight closed mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Average down 0.1%.

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