* Mixed corporate earnings drag S&P 500, Nasdaq away from highs
* ECB's Draghi sounds upbeat economic tone, leaves rates unchanged
* Government debt yields inch higher ahead of Fed meeting
* Crude gains amid U.S. stockpile drop, Middle East tensions (Updates to U.S. market close)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks backed off record highs and government bond yields ticked up on Thursday following mixed earnings reports and rosier-than-expected economic sentiment from the European Central Bank.
The ECB signaled its intention to explore monetary easing but left interest rates unchanged, and bank President Mario Draghi struck a more upbeat tone on the economy than investors expected, sending U.S. and European equities lower and boosting sovereign debt yields. he said things such as the outlook is getting worse and worse, they still see the sign of a recession risk as pretty low, so the market is interpreting this as somewhat hawkish," said Jon Hill, an interest rate strategist at BMO Capital Markets in New York.
A mixed bag of earnings reports from a swath of U.S. companies pulled Wall Street lower a day after the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit all-time highs, painting a picture of profit beats amid underwhelming guidance.
"The market's headed into the bulk of the earnings season near record highs and mixed reports have led the markets to the downside," said Joseph Sroka, chief investment officer at NovaPoint in Atlanta. "We're seeing the expected toll that trade and tariffs are taking on the companies."
The protracted U.S.-China trade war and a softening global economy should encourage the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut interest rates next Wednesday for the first time in a decade.
But investors will be eyeing the Fed's statement at the conclusion of its two-day monetary policy meeting for clues as to what to expect going forward.
"The market is expecting more than a single cut (this year) and if the Fed implies that that's not a slam dunk it's going to have implications for the market," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 128.65 points, or 0.47%, to 27,141.32, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 15.83 points, or 0.52%, to 3,003.73 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 82.96 points, or 1%, to 8,238.54.
European stocks reversed their initial gains in reaction to the ECB's easing intentions after Draghi said the risk of a recession in the euro zone was "pretty low" and the central bank would wait for more data before "taking action." pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX declined 0.56% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed 0.51%.
U.S. Treasury yields rose following Draghi's remarks. 10-year notes US10YT=RR fell 8/32 in price to yield 2.0758%, compared with 2.05% late on Wednesday.
The 30-year bond US30YT=RR fell 20/32 in price to yield 2.6061%, compared with 2.578% late on Wednesday.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of other world currencies, inched higher, while the euro gave up earlier gains to show a nominal increase from Wednesday's two-month low.
The dollar index .DXY rose 0.09%, with the euro EUR= up 0.04% to $1.1144.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.48% versus the greenback at 108.72 per dollar, while sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.2451, down 0.24% on the day.
Oil prices climbed as Middle East tensions and a substantial drop in U.S. crude stocks raised supply concerns. crude oil futures CLc1 settled at $56.02 per barrel, a 0.25% gain, while Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 settled up 0.33% at $63.39 per barrel. gold XAU= dropped 0.8% to $1,414.27 an ounce.
Copper CMCU3 fell 0.23% to $5,985.50 a tonne.
Three-month aluminum on the London Metal Exchange CMAL3 rose 0.03% to $1,826.50 a tonne.
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