Markets

US stocks mixed; Google earnings pull down Nasdaq

Published Updated

At 1515 GMT the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue chips was up 43.18 points (0.34 percent) to 12,667.16.

The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 3.12 (0.24 percent) to 1,311.38, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite lost 6.45 points (0.23 percent) to 2,781.88.

A slew of big-company earnings reports between Thursday's market close and Friday's opening drove trading.

Google shares lost 7.8 percent after the company reported quarterly revenues that were more than three percent below analyst forecasts after the closing Thursday.

General Electric shares lost 1.5 percent after its pre-market earnings report showed fourth-quarter net profit dropped 16 percent.

But stocks overall were supported on positive earnings reports from IBM (up 3.6 percent), Microsoft (up 3.2 percent) and Intel (up 0.8 percent), all three on the Dow list.

"Investors are also keeping a cautious eye on Greece, with the cash-strapped nation's government meeting with both private creditors and debt inspectors from the European Union, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund," said Andrea Kramer of Schaeffer's Investment Research.

After months of talks, a deal on banks writing down a huge chunk of the Greek debt they hold could be a major step toward stabilizing the eurozone.

Bond prices dropped. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.02 percent from 1.97 percent Thursday, while the 30-year increased to 3.09 percent from 3.04 percent.

Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012