Stocks Open Lower after Tech Sector Disappoints

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Friday, in the wake of disappointing results from tech giants Microsoft and Google. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 54.45 points, or 0.35 percent, to 15,494.09. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 4.62 points, or 0.27 percent, to 1,684.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 31.39 points, or 0.87 percent, to 3,579.89.

General Electric posted a slight gain in net income in the second quarter and said its U.S. operations are picking up steam. GE said Friday that it earned $3.13 billion, up from $3.11 billion a year earlier. On a per share basis, the company earned 30 cents, up from 29 cents. Revenue fell 4 percent, to $35.12 billion from $36.5 billion.

The city of Detroit filed for federal bankruptcy protection Thursday after decades of decline, a new low for a city that once defined industrial America’s might but was hollowed out by the flight of residents and businesses to the suburbs.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 nations, gathered in Moscow, were to call for greater clarity in  policy ‘messaging’ after signals of a withdrawal of U.S. monetary stimulus caused a global sell-off in stocks and bonds, and a flight to the dollar.