Roundup: U.S. stocks end mixed amid Greece uncertainty, earnings

U.S. stocks were little changed after wavering around flatline in a tight range Wednesday, as investors were eagerly awaiting the outcome of an emergency meeting of European finance ministers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 6.62 points, or 0.04 percent, to 17,862.14. The S&P 500 edged down 0.06 point, or less than 0.01 percent, to 2,068.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 13.54 points, or 0.28 percent, to 4, 801.18.

Wednesday's emergency meeting is part of the continuing negotiations between eurozone and Greek leaders over the next few days. Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis is expected to request a bridge agreement to cover the country's funding needs until autumn while the government is negotiating a final agreement with creditors on further debt relief.

U.S. weekly mortgage applications, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, were down 9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.

In corporate news, Apple's shares gained 2.34 percent to 124.88 dollars apiece Wednesday, making the Nasdaq the only major index ending higher. The tech giant's market capital soared to a record high of over 700 billion dollars after its shares closed at 122.02 dollars apiece Tuesday.

Shares of Pepsi rose 2.46 percent to 100.40 dollars apiece Wednesday after the beverage and snack giant released better-than- expected quarterly financial report. Pepsi reported its core earnings per share of 1.12 dollars for the fourth quarter of 2014 and 4.63 dollars for the full year.

Thomson Reuters, however, missed estimates with adjusted quarterly earnings of 43 cents per share. The financial information provider's shares dropped 2.53 percent to 38.59 dollars apiece.

Latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that S&P 500 companies' per-share earnings in the fourth quarter of 2014 are expected to grow 6.7 percent year on year, while revenue growth is forecast to increase 1.9 percent. A total of 352 companies in the S&P 500 have reported quarterly results to date.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, decreased 1.57 percent to end at 16.96 Wednesday.

In other markets, oil prices retreated as U.S. crude inventories increased to a historic high.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery lost 1.18 dollars to settle at 48.84 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for March delivery moved down 1.77 dollars to close at 54.66 dollars a barrel.

The dollar gained against other currencies as investors awaited the outcome of Greece debt talks.

In late New York trading, the euro lost to 1.1297 dollars from 1.1315 dollars of the previous session, and the dollar bought 120. 29 Japanese yen, higher than 119.44 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the Nymex fell as the U.S. dollar strengthened on weakness in the euro zone.

The most active gold contract for April delivery fell 12.6 dollars, or 1.02 percent, to settle at 1,219.60 dollars per ounce. Endite