U.S. stocks trade mixed amid earnings reports, economic data

U.S. stocks pared early losses to trade mixed around midday Wednesday as investors pondered over a batch of quarterly earnings results amid economic data.

At noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 48.73 points, or 0.27 percent, to 18,218.00. The S&P 500 edged down 0.19 point, or 0.01 percent, to 2,142.97. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 14.87 points, or 0.28 percent, to 5,268.53.

After Tuesday's closing bell, Apple Inc. reported that its sales of smartphones, tablet computers and personal computers were down in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2016 compared with the same period a year ago.

The tech giant announced quarterly revenues of 46.9 billion U.S. dollars and quarterly net income of 9 billion dollars, down from 51.5 billion dollars and 11.1 billion dollars respectively from the same quarter last year.

Its shares dropped nearly 3 percent around midday Wednesday after the release.

Shares of Coca-Cola Co. traded mildly higher around midday Wednesday after the soft drink giant reported third-quarter revenue slightly better than expected.

On the economic front, the U.S. international trade deficit was 56.1 billion dollars in September, down 3.1 billion dollars from the August reading, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

In a separate report, the department announced that U.S. sales of new single-family houses in September 2016 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 593,000. This is 3.1 percent above the revised August rate and is 29.8 percent above the September 2015 estimate.

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks ticked down as Wall Street digested a slew of mixed earnings reports from notable companies. Endit