Wall Street ends the week little changed

U.S. shares ended flat on Friday as downbeat economic data pointed to a lack of momentum in the economy.

By the close the Dow Jones had ticked 0.1% higher to 18273. The S&P 500 added close to two points to 2123 while the NASDAQ edged a touch lower to 5048.


U.S. economic data

Industrial production fell 0.3 percent in April the fifth straight month of declines as reduced mining and utilities output weighed Reuters said. Expectations were for a gain of 0.1 percent.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment report came in at 88.6 the lowest in 7 months.

The Empire State manufacturing index rose in May but only barely. The index a first reading of manufacturing conditions in the month inched up to 3.1 from negative 1.2 in April the New York Fed said today.


Wall Street round-up

Keurig Green Mountain (NASDAQ:GMCR) fell 8 percent to $94.83 after Bloomberg reported that the K-cup coffee pod maker would not make available its new cold brewing system in all it is retail outlets until next year.

El Pollo Loco Holdings (NASDAQ:LOCO) tanked 14.9 percent to $24.73 after the restaurant chain operator projected a full-year profit largely below estimates.

Avon Products (NYSE:AVP) the world's largest door-to-door seller of cosmetics dropped 1 percent to $7.00 a day after soaring as much as 20 percent on an apparently bogus takeover offer. Avon said it had received no such offer.

King Digital Entertainment (NYSE:KING) fluctuated as the maker of games for social media platforms and mobile devices reported strong first-quarter results but expected changes in foreign currency and a lack of new releases to hurt its gross bookings for the second quarter. The shares were last up 1.3% at $15.19.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) rose 4.7 percent to $614.00 after Bloomberg reported that it was in talks with a company backed by Alibaba's (NYSE:BABA) Jack Ma to enter China.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) advanced 1.3 percent to $20.12 after the provider of manufacturing equipment said its profit rose 39 percent as revenue increased 4 percent in the April quarter. 

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) fell 1 percent to $59.52 reversing an earlier rally after saying all 15 board members will remain or join PayPal’s board when it spins off from eBay in the third quarter.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) climbed 1.4 percent to $102.06 after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. upgraded its share recommendation to “buy” from “hold”.

Deere & Co. (NYSE:DE) declined 3.5 percent to $89.02 after JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut the stock to “underweight” the equivalent of a “sell” rating from “neutral”.

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