NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are hardly changed in Friday morning trading as energy companies rise with the price of oil and health care stocks trade lower. Retailers Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch and Williams-Sonoma are dropping after they gave weak quarterly reports, while discount retailer Ross Stores is climbing.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average slid 14 points, or 0.1 percent, to 18,890 as of 9:48 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index held steady at 2,186. The Nasdaq composite briefly touched a record high as it rose 5 points to 5,339.
DOLLAR SEEING GREEN: Already at its highest mark since early 2003, the dollar continued to climb. It's around annual highs against the euro and six-month highs against the yen. The dollar rose to 110.15 yen from 109.89 yen. The euro fell to $1.0616 from $1.0626.
FUN IN THE SUN: Investors approved the combination of electric car maker Tesla Motors and solar power company SolarCity. The deal, first proposed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in June, has gotten a chilly reception on Wall Street. Analysts wondered why Tesla would want to take on SolarCity while it's building a big battery factory in Nevada and also preparing to launch its first mass-market car, the Model 3, due out at the end of 2017. Shares of both companies dropped in the ensuing months. Friday morning Tesla picked up 3 cents to $188.69 and SolarCity rose 36 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $20.76.
RETAIL: Clothing retailers struggled. Teen clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch fell $1.93, or 11.4 percent, to $15 after it reported weak sales and a smaller profit than analysts had expected, and Gap gave up $3.64, or 11.9 percent, to $27.07. It said fewer people visiting stores heading into the holiday season. Shoppers are not buying as many clothes and moving toward discount chains. Discount retailer Ross Stores rose $2.42, or 3.7 percent, after it posted a better-than-expected profit and sales.
OUT IN FORCE: Customer management software maker Salesforce.com jumped after a solid quarterly report and strong guidance. Its stock picked up $4.03, or 5.4 percent, to $79.25.
A MARVEL: Chipmaker Marvell Technology disclosed much stronger sales than analysts expected and gave a surprising forecast for the current quarter. Its stock gained $1.14, or 8.5 percent, to $14.50.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude picked up 15 cents at $45.57 a barrel in New York, while Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, rose 20 cents to $46.69 a barrel in London.
BONDS: Bond prices inched higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slid to 2.29 percent from 2.30 percent.
OVERSEAS: France's CAC 40 was down 0.5 percent and the FTSE 100 in Britain dipped 0.1 percent. The German DAX rose 0.2 percent. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 0.6 percent as the yen hit a six-month low, helping shares of the country's big exporters. South Korea's Kospi shed 0.3 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.4 percent.
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AP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/marley-jay