US STOCKS-Wall St flat as IBM offsets GE, Bank of America

                                
   * GE posts sharp drop in quarterly profit
                                
* Troubled loans drag Bank of America's profit lower
                                
* IBM raises profit forecast
                                
* Dow up 0.2 pct; S&P off 0.1 pct, Nasdaq flat
                                
* For up-to-the-minute market news click [STXNEWS/US]
 (Updates to afternoon, changes byline)
                                
 By Chuck Mikolajczak
                                
 NEW YORK, July 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little
changed on Friday, as stronger quarterly earnings from IBM Corp
<IBM.N> offset disappointing results from bellwether companies
like General Electric Co <GE.N> and Bank of America Corp
<BAC.N>.
                                
 International Business Machines Corp <IBM.N>  was the top
performer on the Dow, up 3.6 percent to $114.67 after sharply
lifting its full-year earnings outlook and reporting a
stronger-than-expected second-quarter profit after the close on
Thursday.  [ID:nN16369660]
                                
 But fellow Dow components GE and Bank of America kept a cap
on gains as a surge in Bank of America's credit losses, along
with an unexpected drop in GE's revenue, curbed recovery
optimism after promising earnings and data earlier in the week.
[ID:nSP533186]
                                
 "The market today is somewhat yawning because it's already
built in -- it's a little anti-climactic given the rally that's
occurred," said Matt Kaufler, portfolio manager and equity
analyst at Clover Capital Management in Rochester, New York.
                                
 All three major U.S. stock indexes are on track for their
best week since mid-March. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 are set
to snap four-week losing streaks.
                                
 GE's profit dropped nearly 50 percent as the slump that
burdened its finance and media businesses spread to its
industrial units, prompting Chief Executive Jeff Immelt to cut
profit views for those parts of the company. The conglomerate's
quarterly revenue fell 17 percent. [ID:nN17269520]
                                
 "What's casting a subdued tone over the market is
commentary coming out from certain areas," added Kaufler.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 17.98
points, or 0.21 percent, to 8,729.80. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> dropped 1.17 points, or 0.12 percent, to 939.57.
The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> slipped 0.55 points, or 0.03
percent, to 1,884.48.
                                
 GE's stock shed 5.3 percent to $11.74 and led the S&P
Industrials index <.GSPI> down 1.2 percent to 195.47. The stock
was the Dow's top percentage decliner while the industrials
index was the worst performer among S&P sectors.
                                
 Internet search giant Google Inc <GOOG.O> fell 3 percent to
$429.43 on Nasdaq after a slump in advertising spending took a
toll on Google's quarterly revenue growth, overshadowing
results that topped Wall Street forecasts. [ID:nN16436531]
                                
 Elsewhere, Citigroup Inc <C.N> was flat at $3.03, erasing
slight gains made after it announced results, which showed the
banking company relied on a gain from its Smith Barney deal
with Morgan Stanley <MS.N> to turn a profit. [ID:nSP533186]
                                
 Helping sentiment was new data that showed U.S. housing
starts and building permits jumped more than expected in June,
propelled by a surge in single-family home starts.
[ID:nN16425610]
                                
 The S&P 500 climbed as much as 40 percent from its 12-year
closing low hit in early March before the run-up stalled in
June. But the index has recovered from about a 7 percent loss
since June's peak, based on an upbeat start to second-quarter
earnings season, and is now up 39 percent from the March low.
 (Editing by Padraic Cassidy)