Stocks edge lower as some earnings disappoint; oil climbs

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global stock markets fell on Friday as results from some big U.S. companies disappointed and tobacco shares dropped, while oil prices had their biggest weekly percentage rise this year.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it aims to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes while exploring measures to shift smokers towards e-cigarettes.

Altria Group shares fell 9.9 percent and were the biggest drag on the S&P 500. British American Tobacco shares fell as much as 11 percent.

"It's going to take some time to play out but those names all moved," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Amazon's stock fell after it reported results late Thursday. Amazon is one of the "FANG" group of companies, along with Facebook, Netflix and Google, that have supported U.S. stocks' gains this year. Results from Exxon Mobil and Starbucks also disappointed.

Despite Friday's share reactions, results overall have come in better than expected for the second quarter and stocks are trading near record highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> was up 22.28 points, or 0.1 percent, to 21,818.83, the S&P 500 <.SPX> had lost 4.32 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,471.1 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> had dropped 6.18 points, or 0.10 percent, to 6,376.00.

MSCI's 47-country All World share index <.MIWD00000PUS> was down 0.2 percent, while the European STOXX 600 index <.STOXX> was down 1 percent.

Oil prices rallied this week as key OPEC members pledged to reduce exports and the U.S. government reported a sharp decline in crude inventories.

Brent crude futures rose $1.03 to settle at $52.52 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures rose 67 cents to settle at $49.71.

U.S. crude was up 8.7 percent for the week, its biggest gain this year.

The U.S. dollar was broadly lower as a combination of underwhelming U.S. economic data and political uncertainty kept traders biased toward the euro and other world currencies.

The euro moved higher against the dollar , and was last up 0.7 percent at $1.1756.

U.S. gross domestic product growth picked up to 2.6 percent in the second quarter, matching expectations of economists polled by Reuters, while growth in the first quarter was revised down to 1.2 percent.

U.S. Senate Republicans failed early on Friday to overturn the healthcare law known as Obamacare, in a stinging blow to President Donald Trump that may end the Republican Party's seven-year quest to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

U.S. Treasury yields fell. Other data showed that U.S. labor costs increased less than expected in the second quarter. The Employment Cost Index, the broadest measure of labor costs, increased 0.5. percent in the April-June period.

Benchmark 10-year notes rose 5/32 in price to yield 2.29 percent, down from 2.31 percent on Thursday.

(Additional reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan in London and Tanya Agrawal in Bengaluru; Editing by James Dalgleish and Nick Zieminski)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)