The dollar traded at 104.87 yen, off from 106.04 yen late Thursday, while the euro gained against the dollar to $1.2918 from $1.2895.

Dow industrials were recently 29.71 points up at 10100.08. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell to 1143.08; Nasdaq Composite Index lost 9.32 points to 1894.86.

Microsoft (MSFT: chart) shares surged 1.5% after the company posted a nearly doubled profit due to lower legal costs and greater demand for the company’s systems. Nevertheless, the software giant didn’t meet its revenue target for the period.

Crude-oil futures moved lower in early New York trading. Crude for June delivery was down 37 cents at $51.40 a barrel, after testing $50 a barrel in the prior session.

Weakness of the dollar provoked interest in gold futures, with the benchmark June contract climbing $3.20 to $435.60 an ounce.


Shares UP:

Shares of Sun Microsystems advanced 9.4%
Siebel Systems climbed 3.5%.
Clear Channel Communications jumped 7%.
Shares of American International Group grew nearly 1%.
Flextronics International's shares gained 2.5%.
Shares of IBM added 5 cents to $75.96


Shares DOWN:

ChevronTexaco shares eased 0.7%.
Archer-Daniels-Midland tumbled 3.78, or 18%, to 17.85