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Google pushes Nasdaq to record; Dow, S&P slip on oil

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Reuters

By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) - The Nasdaq composite pushed further into record territory on Friday on strong results from Google, while the Dow and the S&P 500 fell, dragged down by Boeing and energy stocks.

Google surged over 16.8 percent to a record high of $703, a day after reporting strong ad revenue growth.

Facebook rose nearly 5 percent to a record high of $95.39 on hopes that it could mirror Google's ad growth. Etsy spiked nearly 40 percent thanks to a nod from Google during its conference call.

Crude oil prices slipped in choppy trading due to a strong dollar and fears of increased exports, pushing the S&P 500 energy index down 1.5 percent to its lowest level since January 2013. Exxon, down 0.3 percent, and Chevron, down 1.2 percent, were the biggest drag on the sector.

 

"While earnings have beaten low expectations, the market is looking for forward guidance," said David O'Malley, chief executive of Penn Mutual Asset Management.

O'Malley said the markets need to see better earnings for it to move higher and break out of the sideways action that has characterized much of the year.

At 13:03 p.m. ET (1703 GMT) the Nasdaq composite was up 26.79 points, or 0.52 percent, at 5,189.97. The index touched a record intraday high of 5,198.73.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 62.33 points, or 0.34 percent, at 18,057.92 and the S&P 500 was down 1.84 points, or 0.09 percent, at 2,122.45.

Boeing fell 1.2 percent to $146.52, and was the biggest drag on the Dow, after the company said it will take a second-quarter charge related to problems with its KC-46 aerial refueling tanker aircraft program.

General Electric shares rose 0.9 percent to $27.27, the biggest among the six gainers on the Dow 30, after raising its 2015 outlook for its industrial manufacturing businesses.

The technology index was the only gainer among the 10 major S&P 500 indexes. It was 1.3 percent, boosted by Google.

The three major indexes were poised to end the week higher following strong earnings reports from most of the blue-chip companies such as Netflix and ebay.

The dollar was on track for its biggest weekly gain in two months on the likelihood of a Federal Reserve rate hike this year. However, a strong dollar reduces the vale of U.S. companies' overseas income.

Despite early, upbeat results this week, U.S. companies are expected to post their worst sales decline in nearly six years in the second quarter, in part due to the strong dollar. Profit is expected to have fallen 2.9 percent, according to Thomson Reuters estimates.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 2,179 to 815. On the Nasdaq, 1,789 issues fell and 912 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed 17 new 52-week highs and 24 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 79 new highs and 63 new lows.

(Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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First Published: Jul 17 2015 | 10:58 PM IST

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