By Matt Jarzemsky
U.S. stocks fell on Friday as mixed earnings news and
accelerated selling in Internet stocks put investors on edge.
The Nasdaq Composite Index, heavily weighted toward fast-growing
technology and early-stage health-care companies that have borne
the brunt of recent selling, slid 56 points, or 1.4%, to 4092 in
midday trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 119 points, or 0.7%, to
16383 and the S&P 500 index fell 12 points, or 0.6%, to
1867.
The recent decline in shares of social-media, cloud-computing
and biotechnology companies resumed the last few days and rolled on
Friday, following a respite last week.
Despite big drops in many stocks, "you're not seeing the bigger
buy tickets come back into those names," said Brett Mock, managing
director at brokerage firm JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC.
"You're seeing people sitting and waiting."
The Nasdaq Internet Index slid 3.6% Friday, while the Nasdaq
Biotechnology Index fell 1.5%.
Investors were focused on corporate earnings reports but
reluctant to buy on such news, traders said.
Amazon.com Inc. tumbled 9.4% Friday, even after reporting a
quarterly profit that matched analysts' average forecast and
revenue that topped the company's projection.
Broadcom dropped 4.2% after the semiconductor maker topped
first-quarter earnings estimates, but provided a lackluster revenue
outlook for the current quarter.
Visa slid 3.5% after disappointing revenue growth outweighed its
better-than-expected profit.
Ford Motor fell 2.9% after earnings fell more than expected.
Starbucks advanced 0.6% and Microsoft rose 1.9% after topping
earnings forecasts.
With 46% of the S&P 500 having reported first-quarter
results through early Friday morning, overall earnings per share
are now seen rising 0.2% from year-ago levels, according to
FactSet, versus expectations of a 1.4% decline when earnings season
began nearly three weeks ago.
Adding to the negative tone, escalating tensions between Ukraine
and Russia led some short-term-focused investors to trim their
exposure to stocks ahead of the weekend, traders said. Ukrainian
forces moved in on pro-Russian separatists in the country's east,
while Russia activated troops just across the border. Russian
stocks were hit particularly hard after Standard & Poor's
Ratings Services cut the country's credit rating, citing the
heightened tensions.
Buying in safe-haven bonds pushed the 10-year Treasury note's
yield down to 2.659% from 2.686% late Thursday.
Crude-oil futures declined 1.1% to $100.79 a barrel, while gold
futures advanced 0.7% to $1,299.70 an ounce. The dollar slipped
against the yen and the euro.
On the economic front, the Thomson Reuters and University of
Michigan's consumer-sentiment index for April rose to 84.1 from the
month's preliminary reading of 82.6. The index, a measure of
consumers' feelings about the economy, topped economists'
expectations.
In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.8%.
Asian markets were mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average
edging up 0.2% and China's Shanghai Composite losing 1%.
Write to Matt Jarzemsky at matthew.jarzemsky@wsj.com