Stocks eke out tiny gains

NEW YORK - A mixed batch of earnings results gave investors little direction Friday as traders began looking ahead next week to a packed schedule.

The stock market slumped in early trading, climbed steadily the rest of the day, then ended little changed.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.22 points, less than 0.1 percent, to 15,558.83. The Nasdaq composite index edged up 7.98 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,613.16. The Standard & Poor's 500 index inched up 1.40 points, or 0.08 percent, to 1,691.65. The index ended the week with a tiny loss, the first this month.

Volume was thin as traders prepared for a deluge of potentially market-moving events next week: a Federal Reserve meeting, the government's monthly employment report, and much more.

Expedia plunged 27 percent, the worst fall in the S&P. The online travel agency reported earnings late Thursday that badly missed analysts' expectations. Higher costs were the main culprit. Expedia lost $17.80 to $47.20.

It's halftime in the second-quarter earnings season, and corporate profits are shaping up better than some had feared. Nearly seven out of every 10 companies in the S&P have surpassed Wall Street's profit targets.

Starbucks posted results late Thursday that beat analysts' estimates. Lower costs for coffee beans and better sales of salads and sandwiches helped. Starbucks jumped $5.19, or 8 percent, to $73.36.

In the market for U.S. government bonds, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slipped late Thursday to 2.56 percent from 2.57 percent.

Long-term interest rates have swung in a wide range since early May as traders attempt to anticipate the Fed's next move. The yield on the 10-year note went as low as 1.63 percent May 1 and as high as 2.74 percent July 5.