US stocks are slipping on mixed earnings reports

BERNARD CONDON
FILE - In this April 28, 2014 file photo, trader Michael Zicchinolfi, foreground left, and specialist Anthony Rinaldi, right, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks are drifting lower in early trading Friday, May 9, 2014, as U.S. corporate earnings wind down. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are lower in midday trading Friday as the first-quarter reporting season draws to a close. Eight of the ten industry groups in the Standard and Poor's 500 index are down. CBS dropped more than 3 percent on disappointing revenue.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average slipped five points, or 0.03 percent, to 16,546 at 12 noon Eastern Time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged lower by three points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,872. The Nasdaq composite eased down four points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,047.

CBS DROP: CBS fell $2.13, or 4 percent, to $55.88 after first-quarter revenue fell short of analysts' projections. Advertising sales at television's top-rated network slumped 12 percent.

RETAILER SLUMPS: Ralph Lauren fell $4.74, or 3 percent, to $147.25 after its revenue forecast disappointed investors.

RETAILER RISES: Gap rose $1.55, or 4 percent, $40.79 after the clothes store chain reported strong sales results for April and provided better-than-expected guidance for the first quarter.

THE QUOTE: "There's a pause here, but I think it's a pause before a rise rather than a fall," said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds. "The economic numbers will continue to get better."

HOTELIER HIGHER: Hilton Worldwide Holdings rose 66 cents, or 3 percent, to $23.30. The hotel chain reported first-quarter earnings of 13 cents versus the nine cents that analysts had expected.

SYMANTEC RISE: Symantec Corp. rose 78 cents, or 4 percent, to $20.91. The security software maker said cost cuts helped boost its fourth-quarter profit margins and net income.

OVERSEAS MARKETS: European markets fell amid renewed jitters about Ukraine. Pro-Russian militants are pressing ahead with plans for an independence referendum. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.4 percent and Germany's DAX dropped 0.3. France's CAC-40 dropped 0.7 percent. In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.1 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average gained 0.3 percent.

BONDS AND COMMODITIES: The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.62 percent from 2.61 percent on Thursday. The price of oil rose 43 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $100.69 a barrel.