US stocks traded mixed on Friday as corporate earnings weighted on the market.

The market was somehow lifted after the US President Barack Obama's meeting with top Democrat and Republican leaders on economic issues. Obama said the Congress appears "on target" to approve a new stimulus package by mid February.

Recession concern was exacerbated as companies continued to post weak quarterly results.

General Electric (GE) reported that its fourth-quarter earnings dropped 46 percent due to its troubled financial arms. GE revenue fell 5 percent to US$46.2 billion from US$48.5 billion a year ago. The results are in line with analysts' expectations, but its profit was at the low end of the company's previous outlook.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics announced its first-ever quarterly loss and Xerox missed the market's expectations due to slumping sales.

However, technology shares rose higher on Friday on better-than-expected results from Google.

The Dow Jones industrials fell 45.24, or 0.56 percent, to 8,077.56. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.45, or 0.54 percent, to 831.95, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 11.80, or 0.81 percent, to 1,477.29.

(Xinhua News Agency January 24, 2009)