US stocks have finished mixed as investors continue to react cautiously to a series of uneven earnings reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 41.10 points (0.25 per cent) to 16,373.34.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.06 (0.06 per cent) to 1,844.86, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 17.24 (0.41 per cent) at 4,243.00.
Companies are “not beating expectations by very much,” said Michael Gayed, chief investment strategist at Pension Partners. The results are “not very satisfying,” he said.
Before releasing their fourth-quarter reports, an unusually large number of companies warned of poor earnings, according to a report by S&P Capital IQ.
Of the 100 companies to give a fourth-quarter outlook, 80 were negative, 10 were positive and 10 were in line, said the report. The ratio of negative-to-higher forecasts is higher than the 15-year average, S&P Capital IQ said.
Dow component IBM fell 3.3 per cent after revenues of $US27.7 billion ($A31.54 billion) fell short of the $US28.3 billion forecast by analysts. The company blamed poor results in its hardware division and in emerging economies, especially China.
United Technologies, another Dow member, rose 1.0 per cent after earnings of $US1.58 per share bested expectations by five cents.
Apple rose 0.4 per cent after activist investor Carl Icahn disclosed that he had increased his investment in the iPhone maker by $US500 million. Icahn said Apple is “doing great disservice to shareholders by not having markedly increased its buyback”.
Handbag and accessory retailer Coach fell 6.0 per cent after earnings of $US1.06 per share missed expectations by five cents on “substantially lower traffic” in North America. On the positive side, China sales “remained resilient,” the company said.
Freight rail operator Norfolk Southern advanced 4.8 per cent after earnings of $US1.64 per share beat expectations by 14 cents.
Anadarko Petroleum rose 3.1 per cent following reports that David Einhorn’s hedge fund Greenlight Capital has taken a stake in the company.
BlackBerry rose 8.6 per cent on reports that the US Department of Defence planned to use BlackBerry devices on its new wireless network.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.86 per cent from 2.83 per cent, while the 30-year increased to 3.76 per cent from 3.74 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.