U.S. stocks ended lower Wednesday, as Wall Street meditated on a mixed bag of quarterly results from big companies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 48.50 points, or 0.28 percent, to 17,168.61 The S&P 500 lost 11.83 points, or 0.58 percent, to 2,018.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index moved down 40.85 points, or 0.84 percent, to 4,840.12.
With no major economic data due out Wednesday, investors focused on the third-quarter earnings season, which reaches its peak as a raft of noted corporates report quarterly results this week. Before Wednesday's opening bell, the Boeing Company reported third-quarter 2015 revenue increased 9 percent to 25.8 billion U.S. dollars on record commercial deliveries. Core earnings per share for the quarter increased 18 percent to 2.52 dollars, reflecting strong performance across the company. Its shares jumped 1.66 percent to 141.19 dollars apiece.
General Motors Company reported earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street forecasts, as demand for trucks in North America remained strong. Its shares surged 5.79 percent to 35.42 dollars apiece. The U.S. car-maker announced third-quarter 2015 net income to common stockholders of 1.4 billion dollars or 0.84 dollar per diluted share, compared to 1.4 billion dollars or 0.81 dollar per diluted share a year ago.
Shares of Yahoo tumbled 5.21 percent to 31.12 dollars apiece Wednesday following the release of the company's disappointing quarterly results. The internet firm posted third-quarter earnings of 15 cents per share on 1.23 billion dollars in revenue, compared with earnings of 52 cents per share on 1.15 billion dollars in revenue a year ago.
Latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the third quarter of 2015 are expected to decline 3.5 percent year on year, while revenue growth is forecast to decrease 3.8 percent.
Meanwhile, Ferrari begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday under the ticker symbol RACE. The luxury car maker priced its IPO at 52 dollars per share, valuing the company at 9.8 billion dollars. Its shares soared 5.77 percent to 55.00 dollars apiece.
Overseas, Chinese stocks made a major correction on Wednesday after more than a week of rises, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropping 3.06 percent. The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, increased 6.03 percent to end at 16.70 on Wednesday.
In other markets, the U.S. dollar increased against the euro as the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting scheduled later this week spurred market expectation for more stimulus in the euro zone economy.
In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1337 dollars from 1.3339 dollars in the previous session, while the dollar bought 119.95 Japanese yen, higher than 119.92 yen of the previous session.
Oil prices retreated as U.S. crude output increased more than expected. Gold futures went down on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange as the U.S. dollar strengthened ahead of the ECB meeting.
The most active gold contract for December delivery fell 10.4 dollars, or 0.88 percent, to settle at 1,167.10 dollars per ounce.
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