Stocks Finish Friday Slightly Lower    07/20 15:55

   U.S. stocks inched lower Friday as bond yields jumped, a shift that helped 
banks but hurt companies that pay big dividends.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks inched lower Friday as bond yields jumped, a 
shift that helped banks but hurt companies that pay big dividends. The dollar 
fell after President Donald Trump said China is manipulating its currency.

   Companies including Microsoft and Honeywell rose as investors were pleased 
with their quarterly reports, but General Electric stumbled. Stocks wobbled all 
week as investors reacted to solid company results as well as heightened trade 
tensions. The S&P 500 index was virtually flat for the week while the Russell 
2000 index, which is made up of smaller companies that do more business inside 
the U.S., rose 0.6 percent.

   In the last two days Trump criticized the Federal Reserve for raising 
interest rates and said China, said he's willing to put tariffs on all U.S. 
imports from China, and said China, the European Union and others are harming 
the U.S. by weakening their currencies and reducing interest rates. Stocks 
weren't affected, but the dollar declined and short-term bond yields slipped, 
suggesting investors wondered if the Fed might raise interest rates more slowly.

   "If there's a toss-up between raising and not raising (rates), you wonder 
what role these types of comments might possibly play," said Sameer Samana, a 
strategist for the Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

   Samana said he doesn't think the Fed will make big changes to its policies 
based on Trump's comments, even if the president starts advocating more 
forcefully for lower rates. But it's something investors will have to think 
about.

   "We think the Fed has independence and they'll continue to do the right 
thing," he said. "This is one more item that just creates noise in markets."

   The S&P 500 index dipped 2.66 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,801.83. The Dow 
Jones Industrial Average lost 6.38 points to 25,058.12. The Nasdaq composite 
gave up 5.10 points, or 0.1 percent, to 7,820.20. The Russell 2000 index of 
smaller-company stocks fell 4.50 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,696.81.

   Short-term bond yields inched higher. The yield on the 2-year Treasury note 
rose to 2.60 percent from 2.59 percent.

   Long-term bond prices dropped. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose 
to 2.90 percent from 2.85 percent. That helped banks because bond yields are 
used to set interest rates on many kinds of loans including mortgages. JPMorgan 
Chase gained 1.3 percent to $111.28 and Bank of America picked up 1.6 percent 
to $30.13.

   The dollar dropped sharply, to 111.52 yen from 112.46 yen. The euro rose to 
$1.1726 from $1.1644.

   Microsoft continued to set records after its fiscal fourth-quarter results 
topped Wall Street forecasts and its cloud computing division continued to 
grow. The company said it's being helped by its rivalry with Amazon, because 
some retailers are reluctant to team up with Amazon on cloud computing services 
while they compete with Amazon in sales. The stock climbed 1.8 percent to 
$106.27.

   General Electric lost 4.4 percent to $13.12 after it said its power business 
continued to struggle as revenue and orders decreased. GE, which has been 
selling and splitting off businesses, also cut its forecast for how much cash 
its businesses will generate.

   In a taped interview with CNBC, Trump said "I'm willing to go to 500," 
referring roughly to the $505.5 billion in goods the U.S. imported last year 
from China. Earlier this month the U.S. placed import taxes on $34 billion in 
goods imported from China and Beijing responded in kind. The Trump 
administration is considering tariffs on another $200 billion in goods.

   The dispute between the world's two largest economies stems from accusations 
that China steals technology from U.S. companies or forces them to hand over 
technology to Chinese companies as well as differences over the U.S. trade 
deficit with China. Investors have worried that the trade war and other 
disputes involving the U.S. could slow down the global economy.

   The People's Bank of China weakened the country's currency against the 
dollar on Friday. If the yuan continues to depreciate, goods exported to China 
will become more expensive to consumers there and Chinese exports would also be 
relatively cheaper. That could balance out suggested increases in tariffs by 
the Trump Administration.

   The yuan has been skidding since February, mostly because of slower economic 
growth in China and rising interest rates in the U.S.

   Benchmark U.S. crude added 1.4 percent to $70.46 a barrel in New York and 
Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 0.7 percent to $73.07 a 
barrel in London.

   Wholesale gasoline rose 1.2 percent to $2.07 a gallon. Heating oil edged up 
0.7 percent to $2.10 a gallon. Natural gas lost 0.4 percent to $2.76 per 1,000 
cubic feet.

   Gold rose 0.6 percent to $1,231.10 an ounce. Silver gained 1 percent to 
$15.55 an ounce. Copper jumped 2.2 percent to $2.76 a pound.

   Germany's DAX lost 1 percent and France's CAC 40 slid 0.3 percent. Britain's 
FTSE 100 gave up 0.1 percent. South Korea's Kospi added 0.3 percent and Hong 
Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.8 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.3 percent.


(BE)