The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Weak consumer spending slows U.S. growth rate to 2.3 percent,

- By Marley Jay

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks finished with a split decision Friday after a wobbly day of trading. Amazon led a rally among retailers, but Exxon Mobil dragged energy companies lower to end an uneven week on Wall Street.

So far the first-quarter earnings season has been a strong one for U.S. companies, but it hasn’t thrilled investors.

On Friday Amazon, Microsoft and Expedia all climbed after reporting earnings, but Exxon, Charter Communicat­ions and Starbucks all slumped. According to FactSet, about 80 percent of the S&P companies that have reported their results have announced a larger per-share profit than analysts expected.

High-dividend companies like utilities rose as bond yields slipped, but defense contractor­s fell. Asian stocks rose following the landmark summit of the leaders from North and South Korea.

This week investors worried that rising raw materials costs, as well as higher interest rates and wages, could eat into corporate profits.

Meanwhile they were pleased with strong results from Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and others. The S&P 500 index finished the week almost exactly where it started.

Karyn Cavanaugh, senior market strategist for Voya Investment Strategies, said investors haven’t regained their confidence since February’s market plunge. But in her view, the economy continues to do well and there are few signs that inflation or wages are about to rocket higher, an outcome that could dent corporate profits.

“There’s reason to think things are very, very good, but not overheatin­g. That’s a great environmen­t for earnings,” she said. “The market is getting a little bit spoiled.”

Bond prices rose again. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.96 percent from 2.98 percent Thursday. High-yield stocks like household goods makers and utilities moved up.

Even with help from climbing oil prices Exxon Mobil’s results still fell short of estimates and its stock dropped 3.8 percent to $77.79.

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