Early gains erased by the close

NEW YORK - After a promising start, U.S. stock indexes gave up an early rally and ended mostly lower Thursday after Republicans delayed a vote on their health care bill and left investors concerned about delays for the business-friendly agenda of President Trump.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose as much as 96 points just before 1 p.m., but doubts about the bill cast a shadow over the market as hard-line conservatives said they didn't support it. Health care stocks turned lower.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2.49 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,345.96. The Dow lost 4.72 points, or 0.02 percent, to 20,656.58. The Nasdaq composite slid 3.95 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,817.69. The Russell 2000 index gained 7.83 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,353.43.

The S&P 500 banking index had plunged 5 percent over the previous four days as bond yields and interest rates decreased. Banks turned higher on Thursday. SunTrust Banks added 67 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $54.85 and Huntington Bancshares rose 24 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $13.02.

Alphabet fell as a YouTube advertising boycott spread. Companies including Johnson & Johnson, AT&T and Verizon have suspended their YouTube ad campaigns in the last week because their ads were appearing alongside offensive videos, including some that promoted terrorism. The ads are placed automatically and Alphabet's Google has said it will do more to block offensive videos. YouTube is one of the fastest-growing parts of Google's ad system.

Alphabet lost $10.15, or 1.2 percent, to $839.65. Technology companies lagged the rest of the market. Alphabet is the second-most valuable company on the S&P 500 after Apple.

Companies that run Medicaid programs, such as Centene and Molina Healthcare, stumbled in afternoon trading and health insurance companies such as UnitedHealth and Humana took small losses. Drug companies also fell. Hospital operators traded higher, as did medical device makers.

Philadelphia-based discount retailer Five Below also climbed after it surpassed Wall Street projections in its fourth quarter. The stock rose $4.12, or 10.8 percent, to $42.25.

Gold fell $2.50 to $1,247.20 an ounce, which ended a small five-day streak of gains. Silver rose 2 cents to $17.59 an ounce. Copper picked up 1 cent to $2.64 a pound.

The dollar inched up to 111.07 yen from 110.92 yen. The euro slid to $1.0786 from $1.0798.