Stocks on Wall Street ended mixed despite solid corporate earnings and dragged lower by how this weekend's G20 meeting in Korea might play out.The Dow Jones Industrial Index slid 14.31 points, or 0.1%, to 11,132.56 in light volume to end the week up 0.6%,
Stocks on Wall Street ended mixed despite solid corporate earnings and dragged lower by how this weekend's G20 meeting in Korea might play out.
The Dow Jones Industrial Index slid 14.31 points, or 0.1%, to 11,132.56 in light volume to end the week up 0.6%, its third week of gains.
Dow components American Express and Verizon Communications both reported better-than-expected earnings, but AmEx fell 3.1% on concerns that it is seeing weak demand for new loans.
Verizon dropped 1.3% on investor disappointment over slowing wireless-subscriber growth.
More than three-quarters of companies within the S&P 500 have beat earnings estimates as of Thurday's close. The index edged up 0.2%, to 1183.08 and rose 0.6% on the week.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.80% to 2479.39, leaving it up 0.4% for the week.
Other markets: Europe down, Asia up
European stocks ended a two-day winning streak as investors cashed in recent gains and assessed earnings reports from several high-profile companies.
The Europe Stoxx 600 index fell 0.3% to close at 266.75 after gaining 0.6% on Thursday.
Germany's DAX 30 stock index slipped 0.1% to 6605.84, the French CAC-40 index lost 0.3% to 3868.54 and London's FTSE 100 stock index settled 0.3% lower at 5741.37.
Most Asian equity markets ended higher, with technology shares leading the advance.
Shares of LG Display jumped in Seoul and Tata Consultancy Services surged in Mumbai after posting better-than-expected earnings.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.5% to 9426.71, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6% to 4648.23, Korea's Kospi jumped 1.2% to 1897.31, Taiwan's Taiex advanced 0.5% to 8168.06 and Singapore's Straits Times Index was up 0.3% to 3173.57.
On the down side, China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.3% 2975.04, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.6% to 23,517.54 and India's Sensex was down 0.5% to 20,165.86.
Commodities: Oil up, gold steady
Crude-oil prices ended the week above $US80 a barrel, roughly where it started, as traders paused ahead of the G20 meeting.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose $US1.13, or 1.4%, to $US81.69 a barrel in New York. For the week, it fell 24USc, or 0.3%.
Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange rose $US1.13, or 1.4%, to $US82.99 a barrel, leaving it up 51USc, or 0.6%, for the week.
Gold prices held steady, with traders saying most of the currency-related jitters surrounding the potential for further US monetary easing have been priced into the market.
The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, fell 50USc to $US1325.10 an ounce in New York.
Currencies: Dollar up, yen down
The US dollar rose, recovering some of its losses from earlier in the week.
The G20 meeting is likely to address exchange-rate imbalances and while no binding agreement is expected, investors reduced their risk in case of surprises.
The euro was at $US1.3929 from $US1.3925 late on Thursday. The dollar was at ¥81.36 from ¥81.33, while the euro was at ¥113.33 yen from ¥113.26.
The UK pound was at $US1.5681 from $US1.5701. The dollar was at 0.9796 Swiss franc from 0.9676 franc.
