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Despite a tough week, S&P and Dow up in April

Adam Shell
USA TODAY

Coming on the heels of the worst day for stocks since mid-February, U.S. shares were under pressure again Friday as investors reacted to a mixed earnings season, the latest moves or lack of moves from the world's central bankers and fresh incoming economic data.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on April 27, 2016.  (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The Dow Jones industrial average, which tumbled 211 points Thursday, its worst one-day point drop since Feb. 11, fell 56 points, or 0.3% to close at 17,775 Friday after being down much more earlier in the session. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, which also had a tough day Thursday, was off 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite, which got hit the worst Thursday after billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn said he had dumped his entire stake in iPhone-maker Apple, was off 0.6%.

Despite the sloppy finish to the week, the Dow and S&P 500 ended April with small gains, with the Dow up 0.5% for the month and the S&P 0.3%. The Nasdaq did not fare nearly as well, falling 1.9% this month. The big winner in April was the small-company Russell 2000 index, up 1.6%.

Still, the market's momentum has stalled as stocks near record highs notched last May. Both the Dow and S&P 500 are about 3.0% off their highs.

One storyline out of Barclays Friday is that the hot market is stalling out after the big run-up since the lows in mid-February.

Wall Street, of course, is coping with the worst stretch for corporate profits since the financial crisis, with earnings on track for a third straight quarter of negative growth. While there have been big beats, such as Facebook (FB) and Amazon.com (AMZN), there have been a fair share of disappointments, ranging from Apple to Google parent Alphabet.

Investors are also digesting recent decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve to hold off on interest rate hikes, and a surprise decision yesterday by the Bank of Japan not to inject more stimulus into its ailing economy.

In earnings reports Friday, oil giant Exxon Mobil (XOM) said profit fell 63% but still topped very low earnings expectations, posting earnings per share of 43 cents, topping the 31 cents forecast. Exxon Mobil, which has been savaged by the drop in oil prices to 13-year lows back in mid-February, posted revenues of $48.71 billion, which also topped estimates. Chevron, however, fell short of profit expectations but beat revenue expectations.

Exxon earnings beat, but profit falls 63%

On the economic front, worker income rose 0.4% but spending came in at 0.1%.

Stocks in Europe got clipped Friday following yesterday's tough day on Wall Street. The broad Stoxx Europe 600 index was off 1.1%. Germany's DAX was off 1.3% and the CAC 40 in Paris is down 1.6%.

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