BERNARD CONDON,AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Weak earnings reports from big U.S. companies are sending the
Standard & Poor's 500 index slightly lower at the close, but the Dow Jones
industrial average is eking out a gain.
The S&P 500 slipped less than a point to 1,338 Wednesday. The
technology-heavy Nasdaq composite lost nine points to 2,854. The Nasdaq's
biggest component, Apple, lost 4 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 59 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,676.
That snapped a three-day losing streak.
The Dow rose on surprisingly big earnings gains from Boeing and Caterpillar.
The broader market was held back by a drop in new home sales and a rare earnings
miss from Apple.
Rising stocks outpaced losing ones on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was
average at 3.6 billion shares.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
