(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) U.S. stocks mostly slipped Friday in choppy trade reversing premarket gains but both the S&P 500 and the Dow remained on track for weekly gains following the announcement that the European Central Bank will implement a $1.2 trillion bond purchase program.
In late afternoon trading in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 92 points at 17722 while the Nasdaq rose 7 points to 4757 and the S&P 500 inched down 7 points to 2056.
In economic news today investors took in a housing report with the National Association of Realtors saying existing home sales popped up in December as expected up 2.4% to an annual sales rate of 5.04 million versus a slightly revised 6.3% decline in November.
The PMI manufacturing flash index also came in at 53.7 in January slightly below expectations and the 53.9 final December reading to mark the lowest reading in 12 months.
Meanwhile the Conference Board reported its December index of leading economic indicators rose 0.5% as expected pointing to steady growth in 2015.
Oil prices were initially higher today after news of the death of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah fueled uncertainty. King Abdullah's half-brother Crown Prince Salman is succeeding him as the new ruler of the world's top oil exporter and vows to maintain the same approach as his predecessor. WTI crude lost early gains settling down 1.6% lower at $45.59 a barrel in New York. Gold futures fell trading below $1300 an ounce.
In corporate activity () reported a quarterly profit of 56 cents per share topping estimates by a penny on strong growth in its industrial unit though revenue was slightly short of expectations due to pressure in its oil and gas segment. Shares rose 1.5% on Friday.
McDonald's () shares fell 1.2% as fourth quarter profit and revenue dropped from a year ago. The world's biggest fast food chain reported better-than-expected same store sales which were down 0.9% compared to expectations for a fall of 1.6%.
Bank of New York Mellon () shed 4.4% after reporting weaker than expected results for its fourth quarter as higher foreign exchange revenue and equity market values could not offset the impact from lower performance fees and fixed income losses.
() rose over 6% after it issued earnings in line with expectations and said it is moving ahead with its previously announced plans to introduce delivery in the second half of the year. It also announced that director Kevin Johnson would become president and COO effective March 1 replacing long time executive Troy Alstead who is taking an extended sabbatical.
() said it is delaying its third quarter earnings report as a result of the massive hacking attack on its Pictures Entertainment unit.
A clinical trial of two experimental Ebola vaccines made by (NYSE:GSK) and NewLink Genetics (NASDAQ:NLNK) is expected to start in Liberia in the next few weeks.
DreamWorks Animation () said it is cutting 500 jobs and will cut the number of films it produces each year to two from three as part of a restructuring.
European markets settled broadly higher today extending seven-year highs with shares in Germany leading the region after the ECB announced plans yesterday to expand asset purchases by 60 billion euros per month until at least September 2016. The gains come ahead of the election in Greece on Sunday with voters to choose a new parliament. Asian markets also posted a strong session overnight with the Nikkei in Japan jumping over 1%.
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