(MENAFN- AFP) The Dow edged up early Friday after third-quarter US economic growth bested expectations, while the Nasdaq fell on disappointing earnings from Amazon and Amgen.
US economic growth accelerated to a 2.9 percent annual rate in the third quarter, boosted by a big jump in exports and solid consumer spending, the Commerce Department reported. That was better than the analyst forecast of 2.5 percent.
About 45 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 18,183.94, up 0.1 percent.
The broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.1 percent at 2,131.87, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.1 percent to 5,211.00.
Amazon slid 4.8 percent after it reported earnings that translated into 52 cents per share, much below the analyst forecast for 78 cents.
Amgen sank 9.2 percent on worries about a tougher pricing environment for best-selling auto-immune disease drug Enbrel, despite reporting higher third-quarter earnings.
Drug companies were under pressure following the report from Amgen and from the smaller pharmaceutical company McKesson, which plummeted 23.5 percent as it slashed its profit forecasts citing a much tougher drug pricing environment in the US.
Merck fell 3.0 percent and Pfizer 1.0 percent.
Google parent Alphabet gained 2.2 percent as third-quarter net income jumped 27 percent to $5.1 billion behind a strong performance in mobile and video advertising.
Oil services company Baker Hughes rose 4.4 percent following reports it is in talks with General Electric on a transaction to combine operations. A GE spokesman described talks on "potential partnerships" but that an outright purchase was not being considered. GE rose 1.2 percent.
Chevron jumped 2.7 percent after it reported that third-quarter profits fell 36.8 percent to $1.3 billion. However, the results bested analyst expectations and marked a big improvement over the first two quarters of 2016, when it reported losses.
ExxonMobil however fell 1.5 percent as it reported a 37.5 percent drop in third-quarter earnings to $2.7 billion.
Among other companies reporting earnings, Goodyear Tire & Rubber slumped 9.8 percent and Baidu and Expedia both gained 4.0 percent.
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