U.S. stocks finished mixed Friday, as investors received a weaker-than-expected economic growth report. In world markets, European stocks ended lower, with the declines led by both the FTSE 100 in Britain and the CAC 40 in France falling 1 percent. Asian markets ended mixed, as the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 0.3 percent and the Nikkei in Japan was flat. In U.S. economic news, the U.S. economy grew at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2011, the fastest growth in more than a year, the Commerce Department said. The government reported that fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth was up sharply from the 1.8 percent annual rate seen in the third quarter and was the fastest pace of expansion since the second quarter of 2010. In U.S. company news, Ford reported that its fourth-quarter net income rose on a boost from an accounting change. The motor company earned $13.6 billion in the fourth quarter because of its decision to move deferred tax assets back onto its books. Without that change, the company's pre-tax operating profit was $1.1 billion, or 20 cents per share, missing analysts' forecasts of 25 cents. Meanwhile, Chevron Corporation reported that its net profit fell 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter. The energy giant reported net profit of $5.12 billion in the final three months of 2011, compared with $5.3 billion in the same period a year earlier. Revenue increased 11.9 percent to $60 billion. The U.S. dollar fell against the euro and fell against the yen. Light sweet crude oil for March delivery fell 14 cents to $99.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $5.50 to $1,732.20 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 74.2, or 0.6 percent, to 12,660.46. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2.1, or 0.2 percent, to 1,316.33. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 11.27, or 0.4 percent, to 2,816.55.
