Stocks mostly higher 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 mostly higher late Friday afternoon as indexes drift between small gains and losses at the end of the first-quarter corporate earnings season. CBS dropped 3 percent on disappointing revenue.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 20 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,571 as of 3:13 p.m. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up less than point at 1,876. The Nasdaq composite rose 11 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,062.

CBS DROP: CBS fell $1.61, or 2.8 percent, to $56.40 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 $2.76, or 1.8 percent, to $149.23 after its forecast for sales for the current quarter disappointed investors.

RETAILER RISES: Gap rose $1.51, or 4 percent, $40.75 after the clothes store chain reported strong sales results for April and provided better-than-expected guidance for the first quarter.

THE QUOTE: "The market has been vacillating, but I believe for the rest of the year, a warming economy ... will push the equity market up," said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds.

HOTELIER HIGHER: Hilton Worldwide Holdings rose 59 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $23.23. The hotel chain reported first-quarter earnings of 13 cents versus the nine cents that analysts had expected.

SYMANTEC RISE: Symantec Corp. rose 74 cents, or nearly 4 percent, to $20.87. The security software maker said cost cuts helped boost its fourth-quarter profit margins and net income.

TECH BOUNCE: After plunging for several weeks, some of the biggest technology and Internet companies rose slightly. Netflix and Twitter gained about 1 percent each, and LinkedIn rose 2 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 fell 27 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $99.99 a barrel.