Mostly upbeat corporate earnings from John Deere ( DE ) and Hewlett Packard ( HPQ ) also contributed to the firmer tone before equities surrendered their minimal gains after the CPI data. Led by losses in component stocks Boeing ( BA ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ) the Dow Jones Industrial Average underperformed the other benchmarks and closed the week lower by just 40 points. Ahead of this morning's data, stock futures were cautiously higher, buoyed by firm overseas markets and expectations for global central banks to remain accommodative.