Stocks mixed on Wall Street
New York - IBM and Microsoft quarterly reports continued to push up values on Wall Street Friday, with technology stocks lagging behind.
A day after IBM and Microsoft released their upbeat reports, investors continued to be optimistic. But the heads of General Electric and American Express warned of continued volatility and uncertainty for 2012 as they released quarterly reports on Friday.
GE quarterly profits slid by 18 per cent to 3.7 billion dollars. American Express Co reported net revenues for the quarter were 7.74 billion dollars, a 6.9-per-cent increase over the same period last year, thanks to a surge of consumer spending.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average added 96.5 points, or 0.76 per cent, to 12,720.48. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 0.88 points or 0.07 per cent, to 1,315.38. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index shed 1.63 points or 0.06 per cent, to 2,786.70.
The US currency rose against the euro to 77.32 euro cents from 77.12 euro cents on Thursday. The dollar lost against the Japanese currency to 76.95 yen from 77.12 yen.//DPA
