The major U.S. stock indexes closed mostly lower Friday, capping a day spent wavering between small gains and losses.
Phone companies were the biggest drag on the market after reports that AT&T was considering a deal to acquire the media conglomerate Time Warner. AT&T slid $1.16 to $37.49. Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile US also fell.
Health care and energy stocks also took some losses, while consumer staples and technology companies held on to slight gains.
Investors continued to focus on corporate America, reviewing earnings from General Electric, McDonald's and other big companies. Earnings from banks and other financial companies have been mostly better than anticipated.
"We're seeing a lot better earnings come out of the financial sector in particular, and some good earnings come out of technology," said David Schiegoleit, managing director of investments at the Private Client Reserve at U.S. Bank. "That is reflected in some of the sector performance, but when you look at the market overall we're still being weighed down by energy."
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 16.64 points, or 0.1 percent, to 18,145.71. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 0.18 points, or 0.01 percent, to 2,141.16. The Nasdaq composite index gained 15.57 points, or 0.3 percent, to 5,257.40.
The three indexes ended slightly higher for the week. The Dow is up 4.1 percent for the year, while the S&P 500 is up 4.8 percent. The Nasdaq is up 5 percent.
Roughly two weeks into the third-quarter financial reporting period, earnings for companies in the S&P 500 are projected be down about 0.8 percent overall from a year ago, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. That forecast is largely because of the energy sector, which has been hard hit by falling energy prices.
Several companies that reported results Friday failed to impress investors.
Skechers U.S.A. slumped 17.3 percent after the footwear maker reported disappointing results for the second quarter in a row. The stock fell $3.96 to $18.98.
Others companies fared better.
McDonald's rose 33 percent after the world's biggest hamburger chain served up earnings and revenue that exceeded Wall Street's expectations. The stock rose $3.36 to $113.93.
Microsoft climbed 4.2 percent a day after the software giant posted a surprisingly high profit for its fiscal first quarter. The results help validate the company's increased focus on software and online services. The stock gained $2.41 to $59.66, eclipsing its previous record close of $59.56 set in December 1999.
After an early slide, crude oil prices recovered in afternoon trading. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 22 cents to close at $50.85 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 40 cents to close at $51.78 a barrel in London.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.74 percent from 1.76 late Thursday.
Business on 10/22/2016