On The Fly: Top stock stories for Friday

Stocks opened in negative territory and remained there throughout the entire session. The market suffered under the weight of both General Electric (GE) and Microsoft (MSFT) which reported quarterly earnings and lost more than 3.0% and 1.3% respectively. There was little else for the market to key in on as the domestic economic calendar was devoid of any major releases. Oil prices moved lower on reports OPEC's oil supply grew the most since December 2016. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In energy news, Baker Hughes reported that the U.S. rig count is down 2 rigs from last week to 950, with oil rigs down 1 to 764 and gas rigs down 1 to 186. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of General Electric slipped 2.9% after the industrial giant reported better than expected Q2 earnings and revenue, though CFO Jeff Bornstein warned on the company's call that earnings are likely to be near the bottom end of the company's reiterated forecast range given challenges persisting in its Power and Oil & Gas segments... Microsoft reported much better than expected quarterly earnings last night, which CEO Satya Nadella largely attributed to strength across its cloud platforms, but the shares closed 0.58% lower following the company's revenue and expense guidance issued on the call. Also, investors may have already been factoring in elevated expectations after several analysts were recently bullish on the tech giant ahead of the report... Visa (V) also reported better than expected quarterly earnings and revenue and raised its FY17 net revenue growth view, sending Street targets higher and the stock up 1.5%... Meanwhile, shares of Momenta Pharmaceuticals (MNTA) fell 2.6% after the District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston issued its verdict in Momenta's lawsuit claiming that Amphastar (AMPH) was infringing on Momenta's Lovenox patent by producing a generic version of the blood-thinner. The jury found that while Amphastar had infringed on the patent, it was invalid and unenforceable. Amphastar shares rose nearly 3% after the news. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers following their earnings reports were Capital One (COF), athenahealth (ATHN) and Synchrony (SYF), up 8.6%, 8.4%, and 4.5%, respectively. Also higher was Plug Power (PLUG), which jumped 15.1% after announcing an expanded collaboration with Walmart (WMT). Among the noteworthy losers following their earnings reports were eBay (EBAY), NCR (NCR), and Manhattan Associates (MANH), which slipped a respective 1.5%, 8.3%, and 9%. INDEXES: The Dow fell 31.71, or 0.15%, to 21,580.07, the Nasdaq lost 2.25, or 0.04%, to 6,387.75, and the S&P 500 declined 0.91, or 0.04%, to 2,472.54.