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U.S. stocks open mixed amid GDP data, earnings

Xinhua, January 27, 2017 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks opened nearly flat on Friday, as investors mainly focused on key economic data and technical corporate earnings.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked down 12.87 points, or 0.06 percent, to 20,088.04. The S&P 500 inched down 1 point, or 0.04 percent, to 2,295.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 3.70 points, or 0.07 percent, to 5,658.87.

U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to the "advance" estimate released by the Commerce Department on Friday.

In corporate news, Alphabet announced financial results for the fourth quarter of 2016 after Thursday's closing bell.

"Our growth in the fourth quarter was exceptional -- with revenues up 22 percent year on year and 24 percent on a constant currency basis. This performance was led by mobile search and YouTube. We're seeing great momentum in Google's newer investment areas and ongoing strong progress in Other Bets," said Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet.

Microsoft reported that its quarterly GAAP revenue was 24.1 billion U.S. dollars and quarterly diluted earnings per share was 66 cents. Shares of the tech giant rose more than 1 percent early Friday.

Shares of Intel rallied 2.17 percent in the early trading on Friday after the company posted fourth quarter results after Thursday's closing bell.

The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the fourth quarter of 2016 are expected to rise 7 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase 4.2 percent.

Earlier this week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the psychological mark of 20,000 points for the first time ever, while the other two major indices also finished at record highs, boosted by a batch of generally positive earnings reports. Endi