U.S. stocks extend losses on downbeat earnings

U.S. stocks traded lower in the morning session Friday, as investors assessed an array of generally negative quarterly earnings reports from notable companies.

By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched down 21.68 points, or 0.12 percent, to 17,960.84. The S&P 500 fell 5.52 points, or 0.26 percent, to 2,085.96. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 58.27 points, or 1.18 percent, to 4,887.62.

After Thursday's closing bell, Alphabet, Google's parent company, reported first quarter 2016 earnings of 4.21 billion U.S. dollars on revenues of 20.26 billion dollars, compared with earnings of 3.52 billion dollars on revenues of 17.26 billion dollars a year ago.

Alphabet Class A, however, tumbled over 6 percent around midday Friday as both the earnings and revenues missed Wall Street estimates.

Shares of Microsoft plunged about 7 percent around midday Friday after the tech giant reported quarterly results that were also well below market consensus.

Shares of McDonald's rose less than 1 percent around midday Friday following the release of the world's biggest restaurant chain's better-than-expected quarterly results.

On the economic front, the seasonally adjusted Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) came in at 50.8 in April, missing market consensus of 52.0.

On Thursday, U.S. stocks ended lower after wavering in a tight range as Wall Street digested jobs data and quarterly earnings. Enditem