U.S. stock indexes edged mostly higher in early trading Friday as rising oil prices pushed energy companies higher. Technology companies were the biggest laggards as Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet declined on disappointing earnings. Investors pored through the latest batch of earnings from big companies, including McDonald's, American Airlines Group and General Electric.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 23 points, or 0.1 percent, to 18,006 as of 10:06 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added one point, or 0.1 percent, to 2,092. The Nasdaq composite index lost 30 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,915.
ENERGY SECTOR: Oil and gas companies benefited from a pickup in energy prices. Southwestern Energy vaulted $1.65, or 15.5 percent, to $12.32. Murphy Oil climbed $1.31, or 4.1 percent, to $32.94.
GAINING STEAM: Norfolk Southern jumped 8.5 percent after the railroad operator slashed costs during its latest quarter. The stock rose $7.01 to $89.64.
TECH SLUMP: Several technology companies were down after reporting disappointing quarterly results. Microsoft lost $4, or 7.2 percent, to $51.78. Alphabet fell $38, or about 5 percent, to $742.
TURBULENT FLIGHT: American Airlines Group slid 6.3 percent after the company said weaker fares and labor costs cut into its revenue in the first quarter. The stock shed $2.51 to $37.50.
DIMMER OUTLOOK: Visa fell 3 percent after the payments processor cut its revenue forecast for the year. The stock fell $2.44 to $78.35.
MARKETS OVERSEAS: Major stock indexes in Europe mostly fell. Germany's DAX was down 0.4 percent, while France's CAC 40 was down 0.2 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 was off 1 percent. Earlier in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.7 percent. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 1.2 percent. Seoul's Kospi slid 0.3 percent and Sydney's S&P ASX 200 lost 0.7 percent.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude was up $1.11, or 2.6 percent, at $44.29 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, was up $1.04, or 2.3 percent, at $45.57 a barrel in London.
BONDS AND CURRENCIES: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.89 percent from 1.86 late Thursday. In currency markets, the dollar gained to 111.34 yen from Thursday's 109.53 yen. The euro fell to $1.1252 from $1.1295.