NEW YORK (AP) – Stock markets around the world sagged on Friday after Amazon and several other big companies reported quarterly results that underwhelmed investors.
Tobacco stocks were some of the worst performers after the U.S. government said it may consider limiting the amount of nicotine in cigarettes. Treasury yields dipped after the government said the U.S. economy accelerated in the spring but also revised down its growth for the first quarter.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 5 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,470, as of 1:40 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 6 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 21,803 and added to the record it set on Thursday. The Nasdaq composite lost 6, or 0.1 percent, to 6,376.
EARNINGS ROUNDUP: Roughly half the companies in the S&P 500 have reported how much they earned during the spring, and the results have been mostly encouraging. But expectations were high coming into the reporting season, and companies have been punished for falling short of forecasts.
Technology stocks came into the reporting season with particularly big expectations. They have already jumped more than 20 percent this year on the hope that they can produce strong earnings growth despite a still slow-growing global economy.