US stocks have closed mixed as investors digested strong earnings reports from Dow members Boeing and Caterpillar and disappointing results from Apple.

Weaker-than-expected numbers on new-home sales also weighed on sentiment.

Lifted by industrial stocks, the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue-chip stocks finished at 12,676.05, up 58.73 points (0.47 per cent).

The S&P 500-stock index ended virtually flat, down 0.42 point (0.03 per cent) at 1,337.89.

The tech-rich Nasdaq dropped 8.75 points (0.31 per cent) to 2,854.24.

Trade was “choppy” as investors weighed “a full plate of earnings reports and data from the housing market,” Charles Schwab & Co analysts said.

Sales of newly built single-family homes fell 8.4 per cent in June, to an annual rate of 350,000, the Commerce Department reported. Expectations were for a rate of 373,000.

Analysts noted that the numbers were volatile month-over-month, but the second quarter marked the third straight gain amid signs of recovery in the distressed market.

Shares of Apple slumped 4.3 per cent on the Nasdaq.

The consumer electronics giant reported fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue that missed estimates, in part as iPhone customers held off purchases ahead of the release of a new model.

Caterpillar climbed 1.4 per cent after the world’s largest construction and mining equipment maker reported record second-quarter earnings and revenue that soundly beat expectations and raised its 2012 earnings outlook.

Boeing leaped 2.8 per cent after the aerospace giant’s second-quarter earnings and revenue beat estimates. The company also raised its full-year earnings forecast and announced an Aeromexico commitment to buy 100 planes in a $10.8 billion deal at list prices.

Ford Motor Co. fell almost 1.0 per cent after reporting a second-quarter profit slump on losses in Europe and overseas.

Online movie business Netflix plunged 23.4 per cent after issuing dismal quarterly results.

On Tuesday, the Dow posted its third day of triple-digit losses as Europe’s sovereign debt woes weighed, dropping 0.8 per cent. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each fell 0.9 per cent.

Bond prices were mixed. The 10-year Treasury yield ticked up to 1.41 per cent from 1.40 per cent Tuesday, while the 30-year was unchanged at 2.47 per cent.

Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.