Wall Street was lower on Friday as a number of bellwether names, including Amazon and Ford, fell after reporting their quarterly results, overshadowing positive numbers from Microsoft.
Amazon shares fell 9 percent while Ford was off 3.3 percent. Microsoft, a Dow component, rose 0.3 percent.
In early afternoon trading the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.8 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was down 0.7 percent. The Nasdaq composite index was down 1.6 percent.
Investors were continuing to pay! attention to intensifying geopolitical strife after Ukrainian forces killed up to five pro-Moscow rebels and Russia began military drills near the border. The actions raised fears that Russian troops would invade.
Separately, local police said seven people were injured overnight at a pro-Ukrainian checkpoint near the Black Sea port of Odessa when an explosive device blew up.
"Ukraine is starting to weigh on the market after being ignored for so long. I don't think it will be a long-lasting issue, and it creates opportunities in the oil and gas space, but we were overbought yesterday, so it is another reason for investors to take profits," said Chris Bertelsen, chief investment officer of Global Financial Private Capital in Sarasota, Fla.
While the situation has taken a back seat to corporate earnings in recent weeks, investors remained on edge over what the potential fallout could be to any prolonged tension or violence. Visa, the big credit card company, said late Thursday that United States sanctions against Russia were hurting its card transaction volumes and that revenue growth would slow further this quarter, sending shares down 3.6 percent.
Ford said its first-quarter earnings missed expectations, hurt by higher warranty costs in North America.
On the upside, earnings of the Microsoft Corporation topped analyst forecasts, while investors were cheered by the software giant's new emphasis on mobile and cloud computing.
Health care names were among the day's biggest gainers after LifePoint Hospitals reported results. The stock rose 5.3 percent while Tenet Healthcare was also up 5.3 percent and Community Health was up 5.1 percent.
In the latest economic data, consumer sentiment rose more than expected in April, moving to a nine-month high, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index. But the services sector expanded at a slower rate as job creation decelerated.
Source : http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/26/business/daily-stock-market-activity.html
