NEW YORK, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday as investors digested a batch of corporate earnings and economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 64.89 points, or 0.26 percent, to 25,444.34. The S&P 500 fell 1.00 point, or 0.04 percent, to 2,767.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 36.11 points, or 0.48 percent, to 7,449.03.
Procter & Gamble stock surged 8.8 percent, leading gainers in the Dow. The U.S. consumer-products giant posted earnings of 1.12 U.S. dollars per share, beating Wall Street estimates, before Friday's opening bell.
Caterpillar and Intel were among the worst performers in the Dow. Shares of both companies declined more than 2 percent.
PayPal, American Express and Skechers reported their earnings on Thursday, which exceeded analyst expectations. Their shares rose 9.42 percent, 3.78 percent and 13.78 percent, respectively, at Friday's market closing.
The S&P 500 index closed almost flat, with six of its 11 primary sectors trading higher while the rest of them lower.
Shares of eBay dropped 8.87 percent, leading losers in the Nasdaq.
Expectations for this earnings season are high. With more than 15 percent of S&P 500 companies having reported, 83 percent have topped analyst expectations, according to FactSet.
On economic data, U.S. total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, fell 3.4 percent from August to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.15 million in September, according to the National Association of Realtors on Friday.
The reading was also the lowest existing home sales level since November 2015, due to rising interest rates and increasing home prices, said the filing.
