US stocks closed out their best week in four months on Friday on a flat note as strong earnings from IBM (NYSE:IBM) lifted the Dow and softened disappointing results from General Electric (NYSE:GE) however the broader market struggled after an otherwise strong week on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 32 points to 8,744. The S&P500 Index is steady to 940 and the NASDAQ rose 2 points to 1,887. In economic news: The Commerce Department reported June housing starts rose to a 582,000 unit annualized rate from 562,000 in May. Building permits rose to a 563,000 unit annualized rate in June versus 518,000 in May.
In company news: Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) shares lost 2.13% to $12.89 after the bank reported a profit of 33 cents per share, down from 72 cents a year ago, but five cents more than what analysts were expecting.
Citigroup (NYSE:C) shares fell 0.33% to $3.02 after the big US bank reported a second-quarter profit of 49 cents per share, surprising analysts who were looking for a loss of 37 cents, on average.
IBM (NYSE:IBM) shares gained 4.32% to $115.42. The world’s largest technology services provider reported on Thursday, higher quarterly earnings that topped estimates on lower revenue that missed forecasts. The tech leader also said full-year earnings would come in at $9.70 per share versus a forecast of $9.20 per share.
General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares lost 6.05% to $11.65 after the company reported earnings of 26 cents per share, versus forecasts for 23 cents per share.
Checking the NASDAQ Top 100: The standout performer overnight was Yahoo which added 4.01% to $16.84. Infosys Technologies and Nvidia also gained ground.
On the downside, the worst performer was Wynn Resorts which lost 3.6% to $36.17. Google and Akamai Technologies also closed weaker.
