By NBC News wire services
Updated at 4:05 p.m. ET: Stocks?closed Friday flat after revenue from Wells Fargo disappointed investors, offsetting a jump in consumer sentiment to a five-year high.
Wells Fargo, the biggest U.S. home lender, saw total quarterly revenue of $21.2 billion, missing analysts' forecasts. That shortfall prompted investors to sell other bank shares, in spite of a record quarterly profit reported on Friday by JPMorgan Chase.
As a group, S&P 500 companies' quarterly earnings are expected to fall 3 percent from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data, compared with a forecast calling for a 2.1 percent decline estimated at the beginning of the month.
"Ultimately, what's going to drive profits will be corporate earnings that come out over the next three weeks and how these earnings match up with expectations," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer of Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana.
"Expectations are low, and the hurdle has been set lower so from that standpoint, it shouldn't be too difficult for companies to surpass."
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary October reading on consumer sentiment rose to 83.1, well above the forecast for a reading of 78.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc fell a day after the chipmaker said its third-quarter revenue probably fell 10 percent from the previous quarter as a weak global economy and a growing preference for tablets slams the PC industry.
Apple recouped some of its losses from Thursday afternoon on reports that it would unveil the much anticipated mini iPad on October 23.
U.S.-listed shares of STMicroelectronics shot up after Bloomberg reported Europe's top semiconductor maker was considering a breakup that could lead to the sale of its struggling mobile-phone chip business.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services jumped after posting quarterly earnings, pushing the Dow Jones Transportation average up. Analysts have noted the divergence between the transports and the industrials as a troubling sign for the markets.
In another look at the U.S. economy, the U.S. Commerce Department said its core Producer Price Index, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, was flat in September, compared with August.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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