By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch , Ryan Vlastelica

Major indexes snapped a two-week losing streak

The Dow and S&P 500 on Friday finished near break-even, but ended well off their lows of the session, while the Nasdaq rallied and all three indexes ended a string of back-to-back weekly declines.

The day's trading was driven by corporate earnings and sentiment vacillated throughout the session, with weaker-than-expected revenue (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ge-revenue-misses-expectations-while-profit-beats-2016-10-21) growth from General Electric Co.(GE), countering better-than-expected results (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-secrets-behind-microsofts-big-profit-beat-and-dot-com-boom-share-price-2016-10-20) of both Microsoft Corp.(MSFT) and McDonald's Corp (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mcdonalds-shares-rise-after-earnings-beat-2016-10-21). (MCD).

The mixed results from the Dow components further muddied the question of whether the pace of economic activity was justifying equity valuations, especially ahead of the coming U.S. election and an expected interest-rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

"There was a tug-of-war between GE and Microsoft, with tech moving higher but the Dow getting hamstrung by weak GE revenue," said Mark Martiak, senior wealth strategist at Premier Wealth/First Allied. "There's still a lot of uncertainty in the market, as global monetary policy and election uncertainty continue to fester in the background."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 16.64 points, or 0.1%, to 18,145.71, and was down more than 100 points at one point during the session, highlighted the day's gyrations. Along with GE, a 1.1% decline in shares of Travelers Cos. Inc.(TRV), and a 1.9% drop in Verizon Communications (VZ) also weighed on the blue-chip gauge. Both components extended their Thursday weakness, which came on the back of disappointing results.

The S&P 500 index lost 0.18 point to close at 2,141.16, a loss of 0.01%. The Nasdaq Composite Index , which is heavily weighted with tech stocks and was supported by Microsoft's rally, rose 15.57 points, or 0.3%, to close at 5,257.4.

For the week, the Dow advanced 0.04%, the S&P gained 0.38% and the Nasdaq picked up 0.83%.

GE fell 0.3% to $28.98 on Friday, ending well off its lows of the session. At one point, it had dropped as much as 2.5%. Microsoft rose 4.3% to close at $59.69; earlier, it reached a new all-time intraday record. Shares of McDonald's gained 3% on the day, closing at $113.93.

"Despite a couple of good reports, we're in the midst of another earnings season that is hardly painting a bright picture," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. "Having another quarter where profits contract is not an underpinning for stocks to advance, and the market is searching for, if not demanding, a catalyst to move higher. At the moment, one is lacking."

S&P 500 companies are expected to post their sixth straight quarter of declining earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-things-to-expect-this-earnings-season-2016-10-07) this quarter, according to FactSet data.

Read:The stock market is caught deep in 'no man's land' (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-stock-market-is-caught-deep-in-no-mans-land-2016-10-20)

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-stock-market-is-caught-deep-in-no-mans-land-2016-10-20)Among other big movers on Friday, Reynolds American Inc.(RAI) soared 14% to $53.78 after British American Tobacco PLC(BATS.LN) (BATS.LN) offered to buy the remaining stake in its U.S. peer it doesn't already own for $47 billion (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bat-in-47-billion-offer-for-reynolds-stake-2016-10-21). Reynolds confirmed it had received the offer.

PayPal Holdings Inc.(PYPL) jumped 10% to $44.15 after its earnings late Thursday met expectations.

On a downbeat note, Advanced Micro Devices Inc.(AMD) slumped 6.3% to $6.52 after the chip maker saw its loss widen in the third quarter (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/advanced-micro-devices-slides-after-posting-wider-quarterly-loss-2016-10-20).

Like GE, Honeywell International Inc.(HON) sales also fell short of forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/honeywell-sales-fall-short-of-estimates-2016-10-21), though the stock rose 0.8% to $108.96.

Qualcomm Inc.(QCOM) climbed 0.9% to $67.93 in the wake of a Bloomberg report that its bid to take over NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI) was nearing its final stages (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-20/qualcomm-said-to-be-near-final-nxp-deal-may-announce-next-week).

Fed speakers: Fed Gov. Daniel Tarullo said that academics (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-tarullo-wants-academics-to-focus-more-on-bank-liabilities-rather-than-capital-2016-10-21) at business and law schools should place more emphasis on the liability side of the balance sheets of financial firms, rather than capital.

San Francisco Fed President John Williams, speaking at 2:30 p.m. Eastern, said he wanted to see the Fed raise rates (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-williams-says-gradual-rate-hikes-needed-with-economy-in-good-shape-2016-10-21) "preferably sooner rather than later," but his comments appeared to have little impact on the market.

Other markets: Asia markets closed mostly lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-lower-as-odds-of-fed-rate-hike-increase-2016-10-20) on the higher expectations of Fed tightening. Trading was suspended in Hong Kong (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-market-shuts-as-hong-kong-braces-for-typhoon-2016-10-20), however, as Typhoon Haima approached.

Stocks in Europe wobbled (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-edge-up-with-weekly-win-in-sight-2016-10-21) as investors digested the European Central Bank's message from Thursday's meeting (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/will-mario-draghi-leave-investors-high-and-dry-in-december-2016-10-20).

The ICE Dollar index was up 0.3% at 98.64 on Friday, rising 0.5% for the week. The dollar has been climbing steadily this month on rising expectation the Fed will lift interest rates at its December meeting.

Gold closed mostly flat (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-futures-drop-but-cling-to-weekly-gain-as-dollar-recovers-2016-10-21), pressured by the stronger dollar, but ended the week higher as inflation expectations rose. Gold futures are often purchased as a hedge against inflation.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 21, 2016 17:14 ET (21:14 GMT)