Wall St little changed; tech gains offset energy losses

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

REUTERS - U.S. stocks were little changed on Friday after Alphabet and Amazon's strong results lifted technology stocks, helping offset losses in energy shares.

Investor sentiment was also dented by a slower-than-expected growth in U.S. gross domestic product.

Exxon shares fell 4 percent and Chevron 2 percent as a slump in oil prices hurt their quarterly results.

The two stocks were the biggest drags on the S&P 500 index and the Dow.

However, a 4.6 percent jump in shares of Google's parent Alphabet and a 1.5 percent rise in Amazon.com helped keep the S&P and the Nasdaq in positive territory.

"I think there is some negative reaction to the announcement by the Bank of Japan. The economic data and earnings reports were also not fabulous this morning," said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management.

The Bank of Japan expanded stimulus on Friday by doubling purchases of exchange-traded funds, but the move disappointed investors who were looking for bolder measures.

At 11:04 a.m. ET (1504 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 21.02 points, or 0.11 percent, at 18,435.33.

The S&P 500 was up 2.97 points, or 0.14 percent, at 2,173.03.

The Nasdaq Composite index was up 8.48 points, or 0.16 percent, at 5,163.46.

Six of the 10 major S&P 500 indexes were lower, with the energy sector's 1.26 percent drop making it the top loser.

"Energy prices have been weak for sometime now, but markets have chosen to ignore them, I think today's move may bring the markets' focus back on energy," Nolte said.

Baidu dropped 5.2 percent to $157.13 after the Chinese Internet search engine posted its biggest quarterly profit decline since going public. The stock weighed the most on the Nasdaq.

Health insurer Cigna dropped 5 percent after reporting a lower-than-expected quarterly profit.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,629 to 1,201. On the Nasdaq, 1,486 issues fell and 1,124 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed 31 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 60 new highs and 21 new lows.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)