Stocks Opened Slightly Lower amid Earnings

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Friday as investors considered mixed company earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 39.19 points, or 0.15%, to 26,986.69. The S&P 500 was down 0.76 point, or 0.03%, to 2,997.19. The Nasdaq Composite declined 8.44 points, or 0.10%, to 8,148.42.

Oil futures traded higher Friday, but remained on track for a weekly loss, with support tied to a fall in U.S. product inventories despite a large jump in crude stocks. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery rose 59 cents, or 1.1%, to $54.52 a barrel. December Brent crude was up 22 cents, or 0.4%, at $60.15 a barrel.

Coca-Cola (KO) has a small beat in third-quarter revenue. It reported net income of $2.593 billion, or 60 cents a share, in the quarter, up from $1.880 billion, or 44 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose 8% to $9.5 billion from $8.8 billion,

American Express’s third-quarter profits rose by 8%, the credit card company said Friday. The company earned a profit of $1.76 billion, or $2.08 per share, up from $1.65 billion, or $1.88 per share, in the same period a year earlier. American Express Co. expects full-year earnings in the range of $7.85 to $8.35 per share.