U.S. stocks open lower on earnings reports

U.S. stocks opened lower on Wednesday, as investors mainly digested a slew of corporate earnings reports.

After Tuesday's closing bell, the Walt Disney Company reported quarterly earnings of 2.479 billion U.S. dollars for its first fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016, a decrease of 14 percent from the prior year quarter. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter decreased 10 percent to 1.55 dollars from 1.73 dollars a year ago. < Shares of Time Warner rose slightly on Wednesday after the media and entertainment giant reported financial results for its fourth quarter last year. The company's quarterly revenues grew 11 percent to 7.9 billion dollars, but its earnings per share were down 62 percent to 40 cents compared to 1.06 dollars for the prior year quarter.

The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the fourth quarter of 2016 are expected to rise 8.2 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase 4.3 percent.

There are no major economic data reports scheduled on Wednesday.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 56.26 points, or 0.28 percent, to 20,034.03. The S&P 500 lost 5.95 points, or 0.26 percent, to 2,287.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 14.19 points, or 0.25 percent, to 5,660.03.

U.S. stocks rallied Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite Index eking out a new closing record, as investors digested a batch of economic data and corporate earnings reports. Endit