Investing.com - U.S. shares ended narrowly mixed on Friday with caution in place on some disappointing fourth quarter earnings news and weaker than expected economic growth in the fourth quarter of last year.
The Dow Jones eased 0.08%, the S&P 500 dipped 0.14%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.05%. The Dow is on track for the week to eke out a 1% rise, the S&P 500 index should see a 1.3% gain and the Nasdaq Composite was headed for 1.8% increase.
Investors took note of U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis figures that said gross domestic product grew 1.9% in the fourth quarter of 2016, disappointing expectations for 2.2% and after a 3.5% growth rate in the three months to September. Separately, the Census Bureau said U.S. durable goods orders fell 0.4% in December, compared to expectations for a 2.6% gain. Core durable goods orders, which exclude transportation items increased by 0.5% last month, in line with expectations.
Weighing also on sentiment, shares in Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) dropped more than 4% after the coffee chain late Thursday posted same-store sales that missed forecasts and Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) slid more than 1% on Thursday as earnings that failed to meet expectations.
Investors are also watching for a possible trade war between Mexico and the U.S. as President Donald Trump said a meeting to discuss a border wall and trade ties with counterpart President Enrique Peña Nieto would not happen as planned and hinted another path may be taken that included the possibility of a 20% tax on imports from Mexico.