US stocks end mixed on mediocre earnings

NEW YORK: US stocks Wednesday finished mixed as investors continued to react cautiously to a series of uneven earnings reports.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 38.01 (0.23 percent) to 16,376.43.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.18 (0.06 percent) to 1,844.98, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 17.24 (0.41 percent) at 4,243.00.

Companies are "not beating expectations by very much," said Michael Gayed, chief investment strategist at Pension Partners. The results are "not very satisfying," he said.

An unusually large number of companies have warned of poor earnings, according to a report by S&P Capital IQ.

Of the 100 companies to give an outlook, 80 are negative, 10 are positive and 10 are in line, said the report. The ratio of negative-to-higher forecasts is higher than the 15-year average, S&P Capital IQ said.