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Roundup: U.S. stocks traded mixed amid earnings report, Fed officials' remarks

Xinhua, May 13, 2017 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks traded mixed for the week as investors digested a batch of first-quarter earnings reports and key speeches from Federal Reserve officials.

For the week, the blue-chip Dow lost 0.5 percent and the broader S&P 500 erased 0.3 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 0.3 percent, respectively.

A slew of notable companies reported quarterly results during the week.

Shares of Marriott International Inc. gained 6.13 percent on Tuesday after the company reported better-than-expected earnings on Monday. Its first-quarter diluted earnings per share totaled 0.94 U.S. dollars, an 11 percent increase year on year.

Shares of Snap Inc. tumbled 21.45 percent to 18.05 dollars on Thursday, as its first quarterly results since going public missed estimates.

After the closing bell Wednesday, the company reported its first-quarter revenue of 149.65 million dollars, lower than the 158 million dollars expected by a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate.

The week has also been tough for retailers as companies reported quarterly earnings that missed estimates.

Shares of J.C. Penney tumbled 13.99 percent to 4.55 dollars for the day after the retailer reported mixed quarterly results.

On Thursday, Macy's reported earnings of 23 cents per diluted share, compared with 37 cents per diluted share in the first quarter last year. Shares dropped 17.01 percent on Thursday and dropped 3.04 percent to 23.61 dollars Friday.

Comments from Federal Reserve officials were also in focus.

Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren warned U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday that any reforms that reduce the massive lending presence of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the multi-family real estate market could shock that sector of the economy, according to a report from Reuters.

The report said Rosengren also warned about the inflationary pressures if U.S. unemployment were to drop much further.

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said Friday that the Fed will soon need to start thinking about trimming its 4.5 trillion-dollar balance sheet, and could adopt monthly trimming towards an end point that would likely remain above 800 billion dollars.

The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rates unchanged last week as it waited for more data to assess the U.S. economic outlook. But the Fed policymakers hinted at a possible rate hike in June.

On the economic front, the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all urban consumers increased 0.2 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Labor Department said Friday. Over the last 12 months, the all items index rose 2.2 percent before seasonal adjustment.

The index for all items less food and energy (core CPI) increased 0.1 percent in April and 1.9 percent over the past 12 months.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for April 2017, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, came in at 474.9 billion dollars, an increase of 0.4 percent from the previous month, and 4.5 percent above April 2016. Endit