By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch , Ryan Vlastelica

U.S. equity benchmarks hover around break-even levels for the week

U.S. stocks were little changed on Friday, as new questions surrounding government policy on both trade and the dollar cooled buying appetite, despite mostly upbeat domestic reports on from businesses and the economy.

What are the main benchmarks doing?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 31 points, or 0.1%, to 24,029. The S&P 500 index was down 1 point to 2,803. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 15 points to 7,840, a gain of 0.2%. The Nasdaq was supported by a rise in technology stocks, which were in turn boosted by strong results from Microsoft.

For the week, the Dow is up less than 0.1% while the S&P is up 0.1%. The Nasdaq is up 0.2%.

What's driving markets?

In an interview with CNBC (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/19/trump-says-hes-ready-to-put-tariffs-on-all-505-billion-of-chinese-.html), President Donald Trump said he was "ready" to put tariffs on all Chinese goods imported to the U.S., which would amount to more than $500 billion. The comments were the latest in a series that pointed to worsening trade relations; on Thursday, Trump threatened "tremendous retribution (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-threatens-eu-with-tremendous-retribution-via-auto-tariffs-2018-07-19)" against the European Union and stood by a pledge to levy tariffs on automobile imports.

While corporate profits on the rise and economic data steady, if not strong, investors are concerned that the trade tensions could escalate into a full-scale trade war, which could hurt growth, business spending, and sentiment.

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch sent a letter to the White House this week warning President Trump against a continued pursuit of import tariffs (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/orrin-hatch-threatens-curb-on-trump-trade-authority-wall-street-journal-2018-07-20).

Don't miss: Trade tariffs mean companies will spend less on growing their business in 2019, says Fitch (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trade-tariffs-mean-companies-will-spend-less-on-growing-their-business-in-2019-says-fitch-2018-07-19)

In an excerpt of the CNBC interview released Thursday, Trump said he's "not thrilled" (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-tells-cnbc-he-isnt-thrilled-with-fed-interest-rate-hikes-2018-07-19) that the Federal Reserve is hiking interest rates as that could undermine his administration's fiscal stimulus efforts.

On Friday, Trump called China and the European Union currency and interest rate manipulators (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-drops-as-trump-accuses-china-eu-of-currency-and-interest-rate-manipulation-2018-07-20) in a tweet. The U.S. dollar index fell 0.6% following the tweet.

In the latest earnings news, General Electric Co.(GE) tumbled 3.3% in heavy trading after it reported earnings and revenue that beat expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ges-stock-gains-after-earnings-and-revenue-beat-expectations-2018-07-20). The industrial conglomerate, in an earnings call, said it expects its GE Capital division to be break-even for the year, and that it was working with an assumption of a challenging power market beyond 2019, saying the division would require a "multiyear" fix.

The results come after a tumultuous year for the industrial conglomerate that included a leadership change, a halved dividend and its removal as the longest tenured component of the Dow. It is down 24% year to date.

Microsoft Corp.(MSFT) late Thursday posted fiscal fourth-quarter results that topped Wall Street's expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/microsoft-stock-gains-slightly-as-cloud-fuels-earnings-beat-2018-07-19) and issued a stronger-than-expected outlook for the first quarter. Shares climbed more than 3.2% and were among the biggest boosts on the day.

See:Microsoft shows it deserves place among tech giants (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/microsoft-shows-it-deserves-place-among-tech-giants-2018-07-19)

What are strategists saying?

"Overall market fundamentals look pretty good. This should be a good earnings season, but a lot of that is built into prices, so it's hard to see significant upside from even, even as the strength prevents significant downside," said Mike Dowdall, an investment strategist and portfolio manager at BMO Global Asset Management.

"There's certainly plenty to be concerned about on the political front, but at the moment economics are trumping noise."

Dowdall said he was watching Trump's recent comments and tweets, but that "generally speaking this is something to ignore. We've been whipsawed so many times on his tweets that there's a healthy dose of skepticism around them. But there's definitely a concern that he could sway public opinion, and who knows how that's factor into markets."

Which stocks are in focus?

Credit-card provider (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/capital-one-shares-on-the-rise-after-earnings-beat-2018-07-19)Capital One Financial Corp.(COF) advanced 3.8% following its results late Thursday, while chip company (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/skyworks-solutions-shares-gain-4-on-earnings-dividend-increase-2018-07-19)Skyworks Solutions Inc.(SWKS) lost 4.8% following its own. Medical robots pioneer (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/intuitive-surgical-stock-rises-after-earnings-beat-2018-07-19)Intuitive Surgical Inc.(ISRG) rose 2.8% after its earnings topped forecasts late Thursday.

Facebook Inc.(FB) rose 0.6% after analysts at Stifel and Piper Jaffray raised their price targets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebook-stock-gains-after-stifel-piper-jaffray-hike-price-targets-ahead-of-earnings-2018-07-20) ahead of the company's July 25 earnings report.

Skechers USA Inc.'s stock (SKX) plunged 25% after the shoemaker's results and outlook disappointed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/skechers-stock-plunges-after-company-earnings-outlook-misses-2018-07-19).

VF Corp. (VFC) reported adjusted first-quarter earnings that beat expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/north-face-owner-vf-corp-tops-earnings-estimates-2018-07-20), along with revenue that came in ahead of forecasts. The stock gained 2.8%.

Schlumberger NV(SLB) reported adjust second-quarter earnings that beat expectations, but revenue that was slightly below forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/schlumbergers-stock-slips-after-profit-beats-expectations-but-revenue-misses-2018-07-20). Shares rose 1.7%.

Honeywell Inc. (HON) gained 3% after it topped analyst expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/honeywell-shares-surge-3-premarket-after-company-tops-estimates-and-raises-guidance-2018-07-20) and raised its outlook.

Shares in FTD Cos.(FTD) dropped 17% after the beleaguered florist said late Thursday that its chief executive, chief operating officer and chief marketing officer are departing, and it's restructuring and reviewing strategic alternatives.

What are other markets doing?

European stocks were mostly lower and while Asian stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-shares-mixed-in-wake-of-us-stock-markets-weakness-2018-07-19) ended higher, on balance. Oil futures advanced, while gold futures gained some ground as the U.S. dollar weakened.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 20, 2018 09:57 ET (13:57 GMT)