* GE, Bank of America results raise recovery concerns
* Weak consumer sentiment overshadows industrial data
* Indexes up for second week in a row
* Dow off 0.7 pct, S&P 500 off 0.8 pct, Nasdaq off 0.8 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click []
(Adds volume)
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Friday
after disappointing results from General Electric Co <GE.N> and
Bank of America Corp <BAC.N> demonstrated the road to economic
recovery will be bumpy.
GE, which sells products from aircraft engines to
refrigerators, reported a 20 percent drop in revenue, while
Bank of America posted a $1 billion loss as both struggled with
still meager business and consumer spending.
"As you came into the third quarter there was
hypersensitivity to the quality of topline growth," said
Michael Feser, president of Zecco Trading in New York.
"Investors are linking that to the economy, trying to
determine if these are quality earnings that are being reported
and does it spell a solid economic recovery?"
Friday's results contrasted sharply with those of JPMorgan
Chase & Co <JPM.N> and Intel Corp <INTC.O> earlier this week,
which breezed past Wall Street forecasts and helped the Dow to
close above 10,000 for two straight days.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> fell 67.03 points,
or 0.67 percent, to 9,995.91. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> lost 8.88 points, or 0.81 percent, to 1,087.68. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <> gave up 16.49 points, or 0.76
percent, at 2,156.80.
Analysts said investors may have become too optimistic
going into the earnings season, in contrast to the second
quarter when the bar was set low. The search for revenue growth
has been a key theme after the last two quarters were
characterized by cost cutting.
Bank of America's shares fell 4.6 percent to $17.26, and GE
dropped 4.2 percent to $16.08. For details, see
[], []
But indexes gained for the second straight week with the
S&P 500 up 1.5 percent, the Dow up 1.3 percent and the Nasdaq
up 0.8 percent. The Dow slipped from its perch at 10,000 after
breaking the key barrier for the first time in a year earlier
in the week.
Data showing weak consumer sentiment further pressured the
market on Friday and overshadowed an earlier report that showed
industrial production rose in September. []
Google Inc <GOOG.O> provided some cheer after reporting
earnings and revenue that beat forecasts and said it was
looking for major acquisitions. Its stock closed up 3.8 percent
at $459.85. []
But International Business Machines Corp's <IBM.N> shares
fell 5 percent to $121.64 on a mixed report that failed to
satisfy investors whose expectations had risen along with the
stock's advance over the past three months.[]
The market will continue to feel the push and pull as
earnings season revs up next week and investors react to
individual corporate results.
"Investors are having a healthy and traditional debate on
when the recovery arrives as to what it's going to look like,"
said Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta Global
Advisors in Boston.
Major companies reporting next week include Apple Inc
<AAPL.O>, Texas Instruments Inc <TXN.N>, Caterpillar <CAT.N>
and Wells Fargo & Co <WFC.N>.
Volume was moderate on the New York Stock Exchange, with
1.39 billion shares changing hands, below last year's estimated
daily average of 1.49 billion, while on the Nasdaq, about 2.23
billion shares traded, below last year's daily average of 2.28
billion.
Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by
1,962 to 1,041, while declining stocks beat advancers on the
Nasdaq, by about 1,828 to 837.
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
