Dow Jones Industrial Average, Earnings | featured news

A rare earnings miss for IBM tugged the Dow Jones industrial average lower on Friday, while the rest of the market headed toward slight gains after a turbulent week. Quarterly earnings for the country's largest provider of computer services fell short of forecasts for the first time since 2005.Read more on NewsOK.com

Weak earnings from several large companies and a credit rating downgrade of several regions in Spain raised concerns about a slowing global economy... The Dow Jones industrial average finished the day down 1.8 percent, or 243.36 points, to end at 13,102.53, its worst performance since June. The losses added to the big declines on Friday, and dropped leading indexes to their lowest levels since early September, before the Federal Reserve announced its latest monetary stimulus program.

Caterpillar drove the Dow Jones industrial average higher Friday after the company reported a huge gain in first-quarter earnings. The world's largest maker of mining and construction equipment rose 2.5 percent after its earnings increased more than five-fold. The company also raised its sales and profit forecast for the year.

U.S. markets experienced a steep selloff Friday as disappointing earnings reports from major corporate icons and depressing consumer sentiment report pushed the Dow down 250 points.