Investing.com - U.S. stocks were mixed in Friday afternoon trade, as dealers took profits following the previous session’s rally but found tepid buying encouragement from a rise in U.S. consumer spending.
In late afternoon U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.04% to 12,209.70, while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.27% to 2,731.25, and the S&P 500 shed 0.18% to trade at 1,282.29.
Investors on Thursday welcomed the announcement from European officials as they presented their long-anticipated plan to address the euro-zone debt threat with an expansion of the European Financial Stability Facility to USD1.4 trillion.
The agreement included a vow from private investors to write-down 50% of their holdings in Greek government debt, as well a recapitalization of European banks with assistance from the International Monetary Fund.
Meanwhile Friday, Fitch Ratings said the plan announced by European leaders was a “positive step” but that the effectiveness of the proposals would depend largely on “greater clarity in the details” and a “full and timely implementation.”
Elsewhere, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that personal spending rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in September from 0.2% in the previous month, mostly in line with market expectations.
Personal income, however did not keep pace with spending, rising only 0.1% in September, below market expectations of a 0.3% rise. The figures suggest that U.S. consumers were dipping into savings or taking on new debt in order to increase spending.
At the end of Friday’s European session, the STOXX 50 Index dropped 0.59% to 2,462.36, France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.59% to 3,348.63, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.20% to 5,702.24, while Germany’s DAX advanced 0.13% to close at 6,346.19.
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Earnings reports dictated interest in individual shares with Whirlpool Corp. sinking 14% after announcing job cuts of more than 5,000 positions and lowering its earnings forecast.
Cablevision Systems Corp. stumbled 14% after the cable television provider reported a 65% decline in profits.
Chemical-maker DuPont Co. rose 0.5% after reports that the company was interested in selling its auto paint division for as much as USD4 billion.
Hewlett-Packard Co. advanced by 2.7% as new CEO Meg Whitman decided not to pursue a spinoff of the company’s personal computer division. Whitman replaced Leo Apotheker who was fired from his position in late September.
Kingsbury International Ltd. was scheduled to release its Chicago purchasing manager’s index, widely viewed as a harbinger of changes in the national health of the U.S. manufacturing sector, early next week.