U.S. stocks open lower amid earnings reports

NEW YORK, May 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened lower on Wednesday as investors digested a batch of quarterly earnings reports.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 133.02 points, or 0.54 percent, to 24,701.39. The S&P 500 lost 11.76 points, or 0.43 percent, to 2,712.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 39.53 points, or 0.54 percent, to 7,338.93.

Before Wednesday's opening bell, Target Corporation reported generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations of 1.33 U.S. dollars in first quarter 2018, up 9.1 percent from 1.21 dollars in first quarter 2017 and beating market consensus.

Following the release of the encouraging quarterly earnings report, shares of the U.S. retail giant tumbled about 5 percent in the early trading on Wednesday.

Shares of Tiffany surged over 15 percent in the early trading Wednesday after the high-end jeweler delivered quarterly results that easily beat analysts' estimates.

The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the first quarter of 2018 are expected to rise by 26.2 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase by 8.2 percent.

Meanwhile, investors kept a close eye on the minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting, which is scheduled for release in the afternoon.

After concluding its two-day meeting on May 2, the Fed kept the interest rates unchanged, in line with market expectation, while expressing confidence that inflation is near its 2-percent target. Enditem