S&P hits new high as Wall Street rises

(Close): The S&P 500 inched to a new record high as Wall Street shrugged off poor earnings results to finish higher.

The broader S&P 500 index was up 9.86 points to 2175.03, nudging past the record set earlier in the week.

The Dow Jones climbed 53.62 points higher to 18570.85, while the Nasdaq rose 26.26 to 5100.16.

The gains came despite disappointing figures from General Electric and Boeing, although shares in both companies fell.

GE, seen by analysts as a bellwether for the US economy, dropped 1.7% after it reported weak demand for new oil, gas and transportation equipment.

'Biding time'

Boeing shares fell early in the day but ended flat. The company announced a $2bn charge that would hit second quarter profits.

Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital, said: "The markets are biding time to see what the next set of earnings bring."

The weak results in the industrial sector were a concern, he added.

Shares of Verizon Communications rose 1.3% as rumours circulated that the company was nearing a deal to buy Yahoo's core internet business. Yahoo shares were up 1.4%.

Rival telecoms firm AT&T, which is also bidding for Yahoo's business, saw its shares climb 1.4%.

Paypal fell 6.8% to $37.27 following results after the bell on Thursday night, despite several brokers raising their price target to between $42 and $50.

Investors will remain focused on quarterly earnings next week. In the tech sector Apple, Facebook, Alphabet and Amazon all report.