国际英语新闻:U.S. stocks mixed on U.S. GDP, Greek debt talks

NEW YORK, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. stocks closed mixed on Friday as U.S. economic growth in the last quarter last year missed the expectation, while the near-conclusion Greek debt talks inject optimism.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 74.17 points, or 0.58 percent, to 12,660.46. The Standard & Poor's 500 was down 2.11 points, or 0.16 percent, to 1,316.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 11.27 points, or 0.40 percent, to 2,816.55.

For the week, the Dow underwent its first weekly loss this year, losing nearly 0.5 percent, while both S&P 500 and Nasdaq index gained.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that the gross domestic product grew 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, which missed expectations of 3 percent growth. However, it was still the fastest pace since 2010.

Separately, the final Jan. reading of the University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters' consumer sentiment reached to 11-month high of 75.0, climbing from a preliminary reading of 74.0.

In Europe, Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said that the country is just "one step away" from a debt swap deal with its private creditors.

Also, Olli Rehn, the European Union's commissioner for economic and monetary affairs said earlier Friday that the Greek government and its private creditors were close to a deal, which could be inked over the weekend.

Meanwhile, the rating agency Fitch said that it cut credit ratings of Italy, Spain, Belgium, Cyprus and Slovenia, in the face of the ongoing financial and economic headwinds from the euro zone 's debt crisis.

On earnings front, the energy giant Chevron disappointed investors with worse-than-expected fourth quarter earnings, as rising spending on oil and gas projects offset gains from rising crude prices.

Ford also missed expectations due to rising commodity costs, while Starbucks posted better-than-expected earnings, but its outlook in 2012 disappointed investors.

On other markets, oil slipped on weak economic growth, but found support from fear of Iranian situation. The dollar also dipped due to strong euro and worse-than-expected U.S. economic growth.

Investors will focus on upcoming economic reports next week, including home price index, unemployment situation, also earnings reports from Pfizer, UPS, Amazon.com and ExxonMobil will also catch investors attention.