NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is quiet on Friday, and U.S. stocks are holding relatively steady, even if businesses around the world are scrambling to contain the effects of a disruptive technology outage.
The S&P 500 was 0.1% higher in early trading, a day after a widespread wipeout dragged much of the market lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 195 points, or 0.5%, as of 9:40 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher.
The relatively calm trading came as a major outage disrupted flights, banks and even doctors’ appointments around the world. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said the issue believed to be behind the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack and that it had deployed a fix. The company said the problem lay in a faulty update sent to computers running Microsoft Windows.
CrowdStrike’s stock tumbled 11.7%, while Microsoft added 0.1%.
Long lines of frustrated fliers formed at airports around the world as the outage hit check-in procedures, which helped pull down shares of U.S. airlines. United Airlines lost 2.2% after saying many travelers may experience delays, and it issued a waiver to make it easier to change travel plans.
Corporate profit reports were also moving stock prices, and Comerica dropped 11.2% even though it delivered much better earnings for the spring than analysts expected. The bank said it received a preliminary notification that it was not selected to continue as the issuer of the Direct Express debit card for about 4.5 million federal benefit recipients, a program it’s had since 2008.
American Express dropped 3.3% after its revenue for the latest quarter fell short of analysts’ forecasts. It was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500 despite reporting stronger profit than expected.
On the winning side of Wall Street was Huntington Bancshares. It rose 3.9% after reporting better profit for the latest quarter than expected. It delivered growth in various forms of profit as its total deposits increased.
Netflix rose 1.2% after the streaming giant reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
Halliburton fell 7% after the provider of services to the energy industry matched analysts’ expectations for profit last quarter but missed for revenue. Its rival, SLB, added 0.1% after its profit topped expectations.
In the bond market, yields were holding steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury remained at 4.20%, where it was late Thursday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mostly lower in Europe and Asia. Stock indexes fell 2% in Hong Kong and rose 0.2% in Shanghai after Chinese officials briefed reporters in Beijing on the outcome of a top-level meeting of the ruling Communist Party. They provided some details of the sweeping blueprint it endorsed for making China a leader in technology, building its financial markets and raising living standards.
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