By Rachel Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks inched lower on Friday, recovering from earlier losses, as investors sifted through earnings scorecards and a report showing a jump in consumer prices in January that raised some fears of inflation.

Traders said there was good and bad news in a report before the open that showed a sharp rise in energy costs pushed U.S. consumer prices up in January at their fastest pace in nearly a year, although underlying price pressures remained muted.

"It's good that they've been able to raise prices a little bit, but obviously we don't want to see inflation come back here," said Victor Pugliese, managing director and head of equity trading at First Albany Corp.

The stock market is having trouble moving higher after an 11-month rally. Some analysts say much of the good news on earnings and the economy is already baked into share prices, and they expect the market will travel sideways over the next few weeks.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 12 points, or 0.11 percent, at 10,653. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.14 of a point, or 0.01 percent, to 1,147. The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 1.55 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,048.

Computer heavyweight Hewlett-Packard Co. posted a 30 percent rise in quarterly profit and gave a forecast for the current quarter in line with expectations. But the stock fell, with analysts pointing to areas of concern, including slower growth in HP's imaging and printing group -- its profit engine.

Hewlett-Packard dropped 63 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $23.23 and was the Dow's biggest percentage loser.

Business software maker BEA Systems Inc. climbed $1.03, or 8 percent, to $13.96. The company said quarterly profit and revenue rose on strong sales of its WebLogic Platform 8.1 software used for building Web-based programs.

Gillette Co., the world's largest blade and razor maker, rose 69 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $38.45. The company stuck by its projection of 3 percent to 5 percent annual sales growth, excluding acquisitions and currency fluctuations.

Cherokee International Corp., which makes power supply products for computers, rose more than 14 percent in their stock market debut after an initial public offering.

The shares were selling for $16.50, up $2.00 from the IPO price of $14.50 set on Thursday.

The consumer price index, the most widely used gauge of U.S. inflation, climbed 0.5 percent in January after a 0.2 percent rise the month before.