U.S. stocks ended on a muted note after the world's largest economy expanded at a slower pace than forecast. Weak quarterly earnings from companies including Ford and Chevron also dented the sentiment.
The Dow industrial average retreated 0.58 percent to finish at 12,660.46. The Nasdaq Stock Market gained 0.40 percent to end at 2,816.55. Standard and Poor's 500 slipped 0.16 percent to close at 1,316.32 on Friday.
On the economic front, U.S. gross domestic product - the value of all goods and services produced - grew 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, less than projections of a 3 percent increase.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: (F, SOA, RVBD, CPHD, EMN)
In corporate news, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) retreated 3.6 percent to finish at $12.28 after earnings for fourth quarter trailed analysts' expectations. Operating earnings per share was $0.20, below consensus of $0.25 per share
Solutia (NYSE: SOA) soared 41.0 percent to end at $27.52 after the specialty chemicals maker agreed to be bought by Eastman Chemical Co. (NYSE:EMN) for $4.7 billion including assumed debt, or $27.65 a share. Eastman will pay $22 in cash and 0.12 share for each share of Solutia. EMN jumped 6.9 percent to end at $50.41.
Riverbed Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:RVBD) plunged 18.3 percent to close at $24.45 after the San Francisco, California-based provider of information technology services guided first quarter revenue of $183 million - $187 million, lower than consensus of $197.1 million and EPS of $0.19-$0.21, lower than consensus of $0.25.
Cepheid (NASDAQ:CPHD) surged 25.4 percent to end at $43.10 after the molecular diagnostics company guided fiscal 2012 above consensus. It sees non-GAAP earnings between $0.55 and $0.60 per share, on revenue in the range of $333 to $347 million. Analysts' expect earnings per share of 39 cents on revenue of $333 million.
Meanwhile, social-networking giant Facebook is reportedly planning to file for an initial public offering next week, seeking to raise as much as $10 billion.
Global Markets:
The European markets ended sharply lower following the U.S. GDP data amid reported progress from the Greek debt swap negotiations. U.K. FTSE 100 finished 0.93 percent lower. German DAX30 declined 0.22 percent and French CAC 40 lost 1.05 percent.
In the Asian market, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.31 percent to close at 20,501.67. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.09 percent to finish at 8,841.22. India's BSE 30 Sensex ended flat at 17,233.98. The markets in China were closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.
Market Scan:
Commodities closed the day on a mixed note with crude oil edging 0.03 percent lower to end at $99.67 per barrel, while natural gas price advanced 2.8 percent to close at $2.678 per million metric British thermal units. Gold rose 0.54 percent to $1,739.2 per ounce and silver prices gained 0.38 percent to close at $33.87 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro strengthened 0.78 percent against the U.S. dollar to $1.3212. The British pound rose 0.30 percent against the greenback, while the dollar lost 0.98 percent against the Japanese yen to 76.6845.
