MARKET SNAPSHOT: Stock Market Ends Session Lower, But Dow Books Best Week Of 2017

All three major equity indexes finished April higher

U.S. stocks finished lower Friday as investors traded cautiously ahead of the weekend marking President Donald Trump's 100th day in office, and as a lack of details in the president's much-heralded tax plan gave investors pause. However, all three major equity benchmarks closed out April firmly in positive territory.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 40.82 points, or 0.2%, to close at 20,940.51. The blue-chip gauge posted a weekly climb of 1.9% and rose 1.3% for the month.

This "feels like a breather after a hell of a rally this week," said Ian Winer, head of equities at Wedbush Securities.

The S&P 500 index fell 4.57 points, or 0.2%, to finish at 2,384.20. The large-cap index gained 1.5% this week, its best weekly stretch since the period ended Feb. 17, and added 0.9% in April.

The Nasdaq Composite Index edged down 1.33 points to end at 6,047.61 after briefly touching an intraday high at 6,074.04. Big gains from tech heavyweights Amazon.com Inc.(AMZN) and Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) (GOOGL) following upbeat earnings helped to limit the index's downside. Nasdaq advanced 2.3% this week, crossing the psychologically significant mark of 6,000 for the first time ever on Tuesday to mark its strongest such gain since Jan. 6. For the month the Nasdaq finished up 2.3%, representing its six straight monthly gain--the longest stretch of monthly gains since a seven-period ending in May 2013.

"We've had a lot of good news over the last week, including earnings and a tax-reform announcement, leaving not a lot of room to react to big tech earnings any more," said Kim Forrest, senior analyst and portfolio manager at Fort Pitt Capital Group.

Read:How Trump's stock market ranks as he nears 100th day in office (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-the-trump-stock-market-ranks-as-he-approaches-his-100th-day-in-office-2017-04-12)

Stock movers:Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL) reported revenue below forecasts, sending its shares down 1.7%.

VF Corp. (VFC) fell more than 5.6% after the Wrangler and North Face parent missed profit expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wrangler-and-north-face-parent-vf-corp-misses-profit-and-sales-expectations-2017-04-28).

Oil heavyweights Exxon Mobil Corp.(XOM) and Chevron Corp.(CVX) reported earnings above estimates, sending their shares higher.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.(GT) shares rose 2.2% as the company beat earnings estimate, even as revenue sales disappointed.

Shares of Qualcomm Inc.(QCOM) were 1% lower after the chip maker issued a profit warning, citing a longstanding patent-dispute with Apple Inc. (AAPL), which it says is withholding payments (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/qualcomm-issues-profit-warning-blames-apple-2017-04-28) on sales in the quarter ended in March.

Shares of Western Digital Corp.(WDC) surged 3.9% after the computer-data storage company late Thursday reported revenue and profit that topped forecasts.

Intel Corp.(INTC) slid 3.5% even after it reported a 45% jump in quarterly earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/intel-shares-slide-after-first-quarter-earnings-release-2017-04-27) late Thursday. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/intel-shares-fall-but-pc-sales-help-earnings-rise-2017-04-27)

Starbucks Corp.(SBUX) lost 2% after the coffee chain's revenue targets fell short of consensus forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/starbucks-shares-slip-as-revenue-falls-short-of-street-view-2017-04-27).

Shares of GoPro Inc.(GPRO) skidded 7.7% even as the action camera maker late Thursday reported better-than-expected first-quarter results (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gopros-stock-jumps-after-results-outlook-beat-expectations-2017-04-27) and second-quarter outlook.

Economic data: A first reading on U.S. economic growth in the first quarter (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-economy-posts-slowest-growth-in-three-years-first-quarter-gdp-shows-2017-04-28)at a 0.7% rate was below forecasts, but the early market reaction to the report was muted.

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-what-would-happen-during-a-government-shutdown-2017-03-29)The employment-cost index jumped 0.8% in the first three months of 2017, while a reading of consumer sentiment for April was at 97 versus an initial reading of 98, but the gauge of confidence was up from 96.9 reading in March.

Other markets: Crude-oil prices rebounded on Friday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-climb-over-1-rebounding-from-latest-bout-of-selling-2017-04-28) after settling at their lowest level in about a month on Thursday.

Gold settled slightly higher (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-firms-ahead-of-gdp-report-but-on-track-for-more-than-1-weekly-drop-2017-04-28), while the U.S. Dollar Index was mostly flat (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-drifts-down-as-euro-pound-power-higher-after-data-2017-04-28), while the 10-year Treasury note was at 2.28% late Friday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/treasury-yields-rise-as-u-sinflaiton-exceeds-fed-target-2017-04-28).

Asian stock markets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-retreat-as-investors-show-caution-2017-04-27) closed mixed, while European equities were weaker (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-drop-for-second-day-ahead-of-top-tier-data-2017-04-28).

--Barbara Kollmeyer and Sara Sjolin contributed to this article.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2017 16:58 ET (20:58 GMT)