U.S. stocks declined, pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a weekly loss, amid disappointing corporate earnings.
The S&P 500 lost 0.4% at 4 p.m. in New York, as all 10 main industries retreated. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%, as American Express Co. and Visa Inc. rallied. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.6%. Oil rose to a two-week high in New York.
Traders said investors have hesitated to place big bets on the broader markets next move, noting the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, a measure of options traders expectation of future price swings, remains near historic lows. But a number of single stocks have seen wild swings the past few days, amid the first big wave of fourth-quarter earnings reports.
“The trading dynamic has been characterized much more by single-stock volatility driven by news items than by just overall market volatility,” said to The Wall Street Journal, Joe Spinelli, head of North America cash equity trading at Deutsche Bank AG.
A report on Friday informed industrial production rose for a fifth month in December, capping the strongest quarter since 2010. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary January index of consumer sentiment fell to 80.4 while predictions pointed to a reading of 83.5.
US home construction dropped less than forecast last month, capping the best year for the industry since 2007.
In corporate news, earnings are in focus. Stock moves on Friday included a 69-cent drop to 25.85 in Intel shares after a mixed report that analysts said damped investor enthusiasm. GE fell 62 cents to 26.58 after missing a key profit-margin target.
United Parcel Service Inc. dropped 0.6% after the shipping company projected fourth-quarter earnings that trailed analysts’ estimates. The company missed delivering packages over the peak holiday shopping season.
Corporate profits may need to live up to expectations for stocks rally to continue. The S&P 500s 30% advance last year was driven more by upbeat sentiment than improved business fundamentals, leaving stocks more richly valued relative to corporate earnings than they were a year ago.
American Express advanced 3.19 to 90.97 after reporting that its profit more than doubled from a year ago, boosted by growth in spending by credit-card customers.
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