U.S. stocks mostly lower as earnings fall short

NEW YORK - There was plenty more earnings news from big U.S. companies Friday, and investors didn't like what they saw.

Intel slumped after giving a weak revenue forecast and General Electric dropped after its profit margins fell short. Capital One also fell after the bank's earnings missed expectations.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 7.19 points, or 0.39 percent, to 1,838.70. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 41.55 points, or 0.25 percent, to 16,458.56. The Nasdaq composite fell 21.11 points, or 0.50 percent, to 4,197.58.

GE slumped 62 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $26.58 after profit margins in the company's industrial unit fell short of its own targets.

Intel dropped 69 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $25.85 after its first-quarter revenue forecast disappointed Wall Street. Intel said revenue would reach $12.8 billion, "plus or minus" $500 million, less than analysts expected.

The earnings news on Friday wasn't all bad.

American Express rose $3.19, or 3.6 percent, to $90.97 after the company said late Thursday that its net income more than doubled in the fourth quarter. Amex cardholders boosted their spending and borrowing during the holiday season. The news also lifted Visa. The payment company's stock climbed $10.41, or 4.7 percent, to $232.18.

The two companies are members of the Dow and together boosted the blue-chip index by 87 points. Without them, the Dow would have ended the day down.

Morgan Stanley also rose after reporting earnings that beat forecasts. The bank's stock climbed $1.40, or 4.4 percent, to $33.40. Investors were impressed by improving profitability at the bank's wealth management unit, and its pledge to return more capital to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock buybacks, said Shannon Stemm, an analyst at brokerage firm Edward Jones.

The stock market is closed on Monday for Martin Luther King's Birthday.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year note fell to 2.82 percent from 2.84 percent late Thursday. In commodities trading, the price of oil rose 41 cents to $94.37 a barrel. Gold climbed $11.70, or 0.9 percent, to $1,251 an ounce.

Among other stocks Elizabeth Arden plunged $6.54, or 19 percent, to $27.96 in heavy trading. The company gave a dismal forecast.