Google earnings report brightens worried market

Google’s upbeat earnings report sent technology stocks higher Friday, while the rest of the stock market lagged on concerns about banks’ foreclosure problems.

The tech-focused Nasdaq composite index rose more than 1 percent with a boost from Google Inc.’s 11 percent gain. While all three major market indexes rose for the week, the Nasdaq’s 2.7 percent jump more than doubled the performance of other measures.

Stocks across the board initially rose after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated that the Fed is ready to do more to stimulate the economy. Bernanke’s comments were the latest confirmation the central bank is about to step up its purchase of Treasury bonds to spark growth.

But that burst of optimism couldn’t fully overcome worries about how banks like Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. handled the foreclosure process on mortgages. Both banks, along with General Electric Co., were the primary culprits in sending the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 30 points.

“The market is not going to continue to rally if financials accelerate to the downside,” said Maier Tarlow, a managing director at Raven Securities.

GM: Pay no attention to chairman’s IPO remarks

General Motors Co. on Friday clarified comments made earlier this week by Chairman Ed Whitacre about the automaker’s expected initial public stock offering, saying the remarks “were not intended.”

Whitacre told reporters in San Antonio on Wednesday that GM’s IPO would take place sometime in November and estimated the shares would be priced from $20 to $25 per share. Investors have been waiting for GM to announce the share price, which traditionally is done in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

GM said Friday in a filing with the SEC that a price range for the offering had not yet been determined “and will be disclosed only after it has been determined.” GM said it could not predict whether the offering will be priced in November.

GM has previously refused comment on the IPO price.

Three banks in Kansas, Missouri, join ranks of seized

Regulators seized three banks in Kansas and Missouri, raising to 132 the number of U.S. banks that have been brought down this year by mounting loan defaults and the sputtering economy.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday took over the banks: Premier Bank, based in Jefferson City, Mo., with about $1.18 billion in assets and $1.03 billion in deposits; WestBridge Bank and Trust Co. of Chesterfield, Mo., with $91.5 million in assets and $72.5 million in deposits; and Security Savings Bank, based in Olathe, Kan., with $508.4 million in assets and $397 million in deposits.

Report delayed on possibility of Chinese currency scheme

The Obama administration said Friday it will delay a scheduled report on whether China is manipulating its currency to gain trade advantages until after upcoming meetings with world leaders next month.

Instead of putting out a report, the Treasury Department issued a statement praising China for letting the yuan appreciate by roughly 3 percent since June 19. The administration also announced an investigation into unrelated trade policies that union leaders complain have allowed Chinese businesses to gain advantages in the clean energy market.

The dual effort gives China more time to show it’s serious about responding to critics who say it has undervalued its currency to gain a step up in a weak global economy. And it allows President Obama to show U.S. manufacturers, labor unions and lawmakers that he is getting tough with China.

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan spoke by phone with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Friday “to exchange opinions on issues concerning China-U. S economic relations,” the state-run Xinhua News Agency said late Friday.

There was no immediate official response from China to the delay of the currency report.