Global Markets: Stocks edge up on Amazon lift; dollar strengthens

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A gauge of world stocks edged higher on Friday, buoyed by gains in Amazon as yields on U.S. Treasuries dipped for a second straight day in the wake of data on the strength of the economy.

U.S. stocks were unable to hold initial gains and held near the unchanged mark. After rising nearly 8 percent, Amazon.com Inc shares pulled back and were last up 4.85 percent after its quarterly earnings report.

The energy sector, off 1.23 percent, was weighed down by a 3.49-percent drop in Exxon Mobil Corp. The world's largest publicly traded oil producer posted a lower-than-expected quarterly profit as weakness in its chemical and refining operations offset a boost from higher crude prices.

"The market is a little hesitant after a very strong day in response to some earnings that were taken quite positively," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at New Vines Capital LLC in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

U.S. stocks had rallied on Thursday, with each of the major Wall Street indexes climbing more than 1 percent with strong gains in tech shares. Still, the S&P 500 was on track for a modest weekly decline.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 49.15 points, or 0.2 percent, to 24,273.19, the S&P 500 gained 0.19 points, or 0.01 percent, to 2,667.13 and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.29 points, or 0.02 percent, to 7,119.96.

European shares pulled back from earlier highs but were still on track for their fifth straight weekly climb.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.08 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.22 percent.

Yields on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield declined for a second straight day after hitting a four-year high earlier in the week.

Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 9/32 in price to yield 2.9587 percent, from 2.99 percent late on Thursday.

But the margin between U.S. shorter-dated Treasury yields and longer-dated ones shrank as a smaller-than-expected decline in domestic economic growth in the first quarter renewed bets the Federal Reserve would stick to its rate-hike campaign to keep inflation in check.

The U.S. economy slowed in the first quarter to a 2.3 percent annual rate as consumer spending grew at its weakest pace in nearly five years, but the setback is likely temporary against the backdrop of a tightening labor market and large fiscal stimulus.

The dollar held steady after the GDP data, putting the greenback on track for its best week since November 2016. The solid week has lifted the currency to its highest level since January 11.

The dollar index rose 0.05 percent, with the euro up 0.07 percent to $1.2109.

Sterling slumped to its lowest since March 1 against the dollar. Data showed Britain's economy slowed much more sharply than expected in the first quarter of 2018, slashing market expectations of a Bank of England rate hike in May.

Sterling was last trading at $1.3794, down 0.86 percent on the day.

(Additional reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Nick Zieminski)