Stocks Opened Mostly Lower as Weak earnings Weighed

Stocks opened mostly lower on Friday, after a series of disappointing earnings reports offset a rise in crude oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately gained 33.62 points, or 0.19%, to 18,016.14. The S&P 500 wad up 1.81 points, or 0.09%, to 2,093.29. The Nasdaq Composite fell 28.38 points, or 0.57%, to 4,917.51.

Caterpillar Inc. missed first-quarter profit and sales expectations, and lowered its full-year outlook. Earnings fell to $271 million, or 46 cents a share, from $1.25 billion, or $2.03 a share, in the same period a year ago. Revenue fell to $9.46 billion from $12.70 billion. For 2016, the company cuts its adjusted EPS outlook to $3.70 from $4.00 and its revenue outlook to $40 billion to $42
billion from $40 billion to $44 billion.

Starbucks Corp. posted weaker-than-expected sales for its second fiscal quarter. Starbucks said it had net income of $575.1 million, or 39 cents a share, compared with $494.9 million, or 33 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose to $4.99 billion from $4.56 billion.

General Electric Co. on Friday reported growth in revenue and core earnings, though profit in its industrials business slid. For the period ended March 31, GE reported a loss of $98 million, or a penny a share, compared with a loss of $13.57 billion, or $1.35 a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 6.1% to $27.85 billion.

McDonald’s Corp. reported a jump in first-quarter profit that easily topped expectations. McDonald’s reported a profit of $1.1 billion, or $1.23 a share, up from $811.5 million, or 84 cents, a year earlier. Revenue edged 0.9% lower to $5.9 billion.

US crude futures are steady on Friday, continuing the limited movement which marked the Thursday session. US Crude is trading at $43.30 per barrel in the North American session. Brent crude futures are trading at $44.54, as the Brent premium has narrowed to $1.24.