Airline stocks were among the day's big gainers, bolstered by lower oil prices and passage of the aviation security bill. US Airways jumped US$0.99 to US$6.69, or 17 percent.
Yahoo Inc rose after it reiterated its outlook for the fourth quarter and said it expects next year's revenue to increase. Morgan Stanley analyst Mary Meeker added to Yahoo's upbeat tone on Friday, saying she is more confident of a turnaround at the company. Yahoo's shares jumped US$0.62 to US$15.45.
Starbucks Corp fell more than 9.6 percent after it said its quarterly profit rose 22 percent, meeting Wall Street's expectations. But Starbucks gave a less aggressive forecast than it previously had, reflecting growing concern about the US economy. The stock dropped US$1.83 to US$17.34.
Communications testing equipment and microchip maker Agilent Technologies said it will eliminate 4,000 jobs, doubling previously announced cuts, and pushed back hopes for a business recovery for half a year or more. The shares sagged US$1.14 to US$23.89.
Amazon.com shares, which have lost more than two-thirds of their value in the past year, fell US$0.10 to US$8.95. The company has Web sites geared toward customers in the US, UK, France, Germany and Japan.
Amazon.com Inc marketing and merchandising chief David Risher will leave the Internet retailer in March, the first departure of a senior executive in more than a year, as the company reorganizes into five divisions.
The company will merge its US and international operations and divide them into groups overseeing application software, retailing and marketing, services and business development, operations and customer service, and platform software and architecture, spokesman Bill Curry said.
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