US open: Markets fluctuate amid renewed Ebola fears, while Ford and Amazon drop

US stocks were largely unchanged on Friday, as investors looked to be worried by reports of the first Ebola case in New York, while the focus remained on company results.

At 9:54 New York Time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 19.69 points to 16,697.59, while the S&P 500 rose 1.05 points to 1,951.87 and the Nasdaq was 10.00 points up to 4,462.40.

News emerged late on Thursday that a New York doctor resulted positive to the Ebola virus after returning from West Africa, making him the first confirmed case in the city. Authorities immediately moved to reassure the public that he's been monitored and that the risk of contagion is minimal but travel-related stocks, which have been the hardest hit by the concerns about the virus, remained under pressure.

Investors were also adopting a cautious approach ahead of the release of results from the European Union’s stress tests for banks, which are set to be released during the weekend, and could provide further proof of a slowdown in growth in the Eurozone.

Meanwhile, sales of new homes in September edged slightly forward reaching a six-year high even though purchases in August were revised downward. According to data released by the Commerce Department on Friday, ew homes sold at an annual rate of 467,000 in September, compared to a revised 466,000 in August, while analysts had forecast sales to fall to a seasonally adjusted 455,000.

In corporate news, Procter & Gamble shares climbed before the bell after the consumer-goods giant announced plans to get out of its Duracell battery business, while its quarterly-adjusted earnings of $1.07 a share met analyst expectations.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. rose after the firm's adjusted earnings of 45 cents for the third quarter exceeded Wall Street’s estimate by 2.0 cents a share but the drug maker lowered its full-year 2014 estimate for net earnings per share, though it confirmed its adjusted earnings per share outlook of $1.70 to $1.80.

Microsoft rose over 3% in pre-market trading, after the computer giant posted financial first-quarter earnings of 54 cents a share on revenue of $23.2bn, exceeding analysts' expectations of 49 cents a share on revenue of $22.01bn.

Ford shares dropped after the car-maker's third-quarter profit fell to $835m and pre-tax profit fell to $1.18bn, though both figures beat Wall Street’s estimates, while Amazon dropped 10% before the bell after announcing late on Thursday, that its third-quarter loss was bigger than previously anticipated, while projected sales growth fell below expectations.

Gold futures edged slightly forward to $1,233.10, while the price of West Texas intermediate crude fell over 1.5% to $80.7 a barrel.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell three basis points to 2.25%, while the yield on the 30-year note declined by the same margin to 3.02 and the yield on the five-year Treasury note dropped one basis point to 1.48.

The dollar was in retreat against the euro, pound and yen.