A disappointing earnings report from Microsoft wasn’t enough to keep stocks down on Friday, as the S&P notched a multi-month high and the Nasdaq suffered only slightly.
Microsoft shares fell 6% after the only part of the company’s business to exceed Wall Street expectations was Xbox sales. Yahoo, meanwhile, slipped ahead of a key deadline in Microsoft’s bid for the company.
Ericsson, Baidu and Juniper Networks were standouts in the tech sector on strong results, and better than expected earnings from American Express lifted the broader market.
Microsoft’s results hit a number of leading tech names, including HP, IBM, Cisco and Oracle, all of which lost 1% or more.
Western Digital, Avid Technology, NetGear and SiRF fell on their results, while Ariba shares soared 20% on its earnings report.
The Nasdaq lost 6 to 2422, the S&P climbed 9 to 1397, and the Dow rose 43 to 12,891. Volume declined to 3.83 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by a 20-12 margin on the NYSE, and by a 16-12 margin on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 67% on the NYSE, and 44% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 71-75 on the NYSE, and 55-89 on the Nasdaq.
