Stocks Open Mildly Lower as Debt Deal Awaited

U.S. stocks opened modestly lower on Friday, as investors looked for signs of further progress in the debt-ceiling and government-shutdown standoff. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately lost 6.29 points, or 0.04%, to 15,119.78. The S&P 500 index shed 2.06 points, or 0.12%, to 1,690.50. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 6.77 points, or 0.18%, to 3,753.98.

President Barack Obama and House Republican leaders were moving toward an agreement to extend the nation’s borrowing authority even as they remained at odds over terms for ending the partial government shutdown.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) on Friday reported a 13% rise in net income amid sharply lower provisions for loans gone bad, even as its lucrative mortgage business slowed from the year earlier. Earnings beat Wall Street estimates.

JPMorgan Chase, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, reported a third-quarter loss after setting up a big reserve for legal expenses. The bank absorbed a reserve for litigation expenses of $9.2 billion in the July-to-September period, pushing the lender to a loss of $380 million compared with a then-record profit of $5.7 billion a year earlier.

Safeway Inc.’s (SWY) third-quarter earnings fell 58% amid weaker margins, and the supermarket operator unveiled plans to exit the Chicago market where it operates 72 Dominick’s stores by the end of next year. For the year, Safeway lowered its per-share earnings estimate to 93 cents to $1, from its previous estimate for adjusted per- share profit of $1.02 to $1.12. Excluding Dominick’s operating results, Safeway projected per-share earnings of $1.05 to $1.12.