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1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks end mixed amid earnings reports

Xinhua, April 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks closed mixed on Tuesday, as investors were digesting a spate of corporate earnings reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 85.34 points, or 0.47 percent, to 17,949.59. The S&P 500 went down 3.11 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,097.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 19.50 points, or 0.39 percent, to 5,014.10.

With no major U.S. economic data out Tuesday, investors focused on a batch of corporate results for the first quarter of 2015.

After Monday's closing bell, IBM announced better-than-expected adjusted quarterly earnings of 2.91 U.S. dollars per share, up 9 percent over the first quarter of 2014. Revenue was in line with estimates, though it marked the company's 12th straight quarter of year-over-year sales decline. Its shares dropped 1.14 percent to 164.26 dollars apiece Tuesday.

DuPont reported Tuesday its first quarter earnings of 1.34 dollars per share, above analysts' expectations, but revenue was below forecasts. The company's shares dropped 2.95 percent to 70. 69 dollars a piece.

Shares of Verizon moved down 0.43 percent to 49.17 dollars apiece Tuesday, though the company beat forecasts with quarterly profit of 1.02 dollars per share. Its quarterly revenue fell slightly to 32 billion dollars.

Latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the first quarter of 2015 are expected to decline 2.2 percent year on year, while the revenue is forecast to decrease 3.1 percent.

Overseas, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was critical of Greece's willingness to negotiate a solution to its debt crisis during a visit to Vienna Tuesday.

He added that the willingness of the Greek government to talk has increased somewhat, but has not yet reached the necessary " maturity". Also he was not satisfied with the outcome of the talks so far, he said.

European equities ended slightly higher amid concerns about Greece debt crisis Tuesday, with the French stock market benchmark index CAC 40 up 0.10 percent.

In Asia, following fluctuations and a record high transaction value on Monday, Chinese Shanghai Composite Index surged 1.82 percent to finish at 4,293.62 points, the highest level since March 7, 2008 when it closed at 4,300.52 points.

Tokyo stocks jumped 1.40 percent Tuesday bolstered by overnight gains in U.S. and European markets and China's latest round of monetary easing policy as well as a weaker yen. Endite