U.S. Stocks Fall in Quiet Trading

Global stocks down following Spain attacks

-- Haven assets advance

The Dow Jones Industrial Average turned positive in early afternoon trading Friday, after the blue-chip posted its biggest decline in three months.

Indexes spent the morning hovering between slight gains and losses, as a lack of big economic data and corporate earnings reports contributed to quiet trading Friday morning.

U.S. stocks rose modestly following reports that chief strategist Steve Bannon was leaving his role at the White House. Mr. Bannon has been viewed as a controversial figure within the administration.

The Dow industrials were recently up 32 points, or 0.2%, at 21784. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.5%.

The gains run counter to Thursday, when disappointing earnings, a terror attack in Barcelona and unfounded speculation about the resignation of another key adviser in the White House, Gary Cohn, led to a steep stock selloff. Two White House aides told The Wall Street Journal that Mr. Cohn hasn't resigned and is not planning to do so.

"There was a lot of noise yesterday," said Kenny Polcari, director at brokerage O'Neil Securities. "A lot of that drama isn't going to price stocks in the long term, but it does cause short-term movement."

In corporate news, shoe retailer Foot Locker Inc. tumbled 27% after its earnings early Friday failed to meet analyst expectations on profit and sales. Ross Stores' shares rose 9.5% after beating sales expectations in its earnings.

Retailers in the U.S. have been releasing mixed results on earnings throughout the week.

Agricultural company Deere & Co. shares were down 5.4% after its sales figures fell short of expectations.

European markets were broadly lower after an assault in Barcelona and a subsequent attack in the Spanish coastal town of Cambrils left at least 14 people dead. The Stoxx Europe 600 slid 0.7% while Spain's benchmark IBEX 35 dropped 0.6%.

Shares of European travel companies suffered some of the largest losses of the day. International Consolidated Airlines Group SA -- one of the biggest decliners in the U. K. -- fell 2%. Airline shares in Europe tend to endure a short-lived selloff in the wake of terror attacks as investors assess the potential for a hit to tourism.

Simmering geopolitical tensions and the Trump administration's strained relationship with business leaders saw investors shift to haven assets, boosting gold by 0.9%. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield slid to 2.176% Friday from 2.197% Thursday, according to data from Tradeweb. Yields move inversely to prices. Utilities companies, viewed as bond proxies for stock investors, were the best performers in the S&P 500 on Friday.

The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of currencies, was down 0.4%.

In Asia, markets were lower Friday with financial shares among the region's biggest decliners.

The Nikkei Stock Average was down 1.2%, and has suffered its largest weekly decline since mid-May. There was added pressure from the advance of the yen against the dollar, last up 0.5%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 1.1%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 narrowed its loss to 0.6%. Korea's Kospi was off 0.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite Index was flat.

Ese Erheriene contributed to this article.

Write to Corrie Driebusch at corrie.driebusch@wsj.com

-- Global stocks down following Spain attacks