NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 shed 0.1%, while the Nasdaq rose 0.1%.
Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500), the first major bank to report quarterly results, posted a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street's expectations and sales that were roughly in-line with forecasts. JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) are on tap to report next week. The financial sector is expected to be the standout performer in an otherwise lackluster quarter for earnings growth.
S&P 500 companies are expected to report overall earnings growth of 2.4% for the last three months of 2012, improving from a 1% decline in the third quarter, according to FactSet Research. But excluding the financial sector, earnings growth for S&P 500 companies is expected to be just 0.2%.
On the economic front, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that export prices fell 0.1% in December. The Census Bureau said the U.S. trade deficit widened much more sharply than expected -- 16% -- due to a rise in consumer goods brought in from overseas.
The wider-than-expected deficit could signal a sharp slowdown in U.S. economic growth for the fourth quarter from the 3.1% uptick in the third quarter, said Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman. The first estimate for fourth-quarter GDP is due later this month.
Meanwhile, there was also more bad news for Boeing (BA, Fortune 500) as All Nippon Airways reported an oil leak was discovered from the generator in the left engine of a 787 Dreamliner, adding to the recent troubles for that key aircraft. Boeing shares slid more than 1.5%, making the aircraft maker's stock the biggest lower on the Dow.
Shares of American Express (AXP, Fortune 500) were also dragging on the blue chip index. The credit card giant announced late Thursday that it was cutting 5,400 jobs, becoming the latest large financial firm to reduce its headcount.
Ford Motor reported it plans to hire 2,200 salaried staff this year, the largest addition of white collar workers in more than a decade, due to aggressive product introduction plans. Shares of Ford (F, Fortune 500) edged higher.
Shares of Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500) jumped after reporting dismal holiday sales that nevertheless beat Wall Street's expectations. The company's sales at stores open at least a year fell by 1.4% in December, with flat sales in the United States. Investors seemed less concerned that the struggling gadgets retailer's inventory was delivered earlier than expected, which meant the company needed to pay for those goods earlier, throwing a wrench in the company's cash flow estimates for the year.
Fear & Greed Index
European markets were steady in afternoon trading, continuing support from Thursday's European Central Bank meeting. ECB President Mario Draghi said the bank was seeing signs of stability returning to the eurozone, although the near term outlook for the economy remained weak.
Asian markets ended mixed with Nikkei adding 1.4%, after Japan's government unveiled a $117 billion fiscal stimulus package. Unable to match the Nikkei's momentum, the Shanghai Composite declined 1.8% and the Hang Seng lost 0.4%.
The dollar was weaker against the euro, as the ECB's unanimous decision to hold rates ended talk of a cut in the short term.
Oil and gold prices edged lower.
The price on the 10-year Treasury declined, pushing the yield up to 1.92% from 1.89% late Thursday. 
First Published: January 11, 2013: 9:47 AM ET
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