Dow Jones Advances Led By IBM, S&P 500 Fluctuates Between Gains and Losses

U.S. stocks traded mixed by midday trade on Wednesday as investors weighed avalanche of reasonable fiscal fourth-quarter earnings reports  from most of the Wall Street heavy weights  with  spotlight remaining on Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) results, scheduled to be released after the closing bell.



At last check, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index gained 0.42%; the Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.29% while the S&P 500 Index inched down 0.01%.

While S&P 500 Index continued to sway between green and red territory, the Dow Jones continued its rally on Wednesday, led by International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). A data provided by Thomson Reuters shows that DJIA has gained more than 5 percent in first three weeks of 2013-- very close to its best January performance in 1997 when the index settled 5.7% higher.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) shares continued to advance after the tech giant, late on Tuesday, reported better than expected revenue growth in its ‘core’ internet business. Ad- rates on mobile computing also showed marked improvement. At least 12 brokerage firms have boosted their price target on the stock, according to Thomson Reuters.

Shares of IBM gained on Wednesday after the company’s fiscal fourth results, announced late on Tuesday, edged past Street’s estimates.

Apple is slated to report quarterly results after the closing bell.

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) shares rallied on Wednesday after the chip maker and microprocessor manufacturer reported narrower than expected losses in the fiscal fourth-quarter thanks to  restructuring measures that have been undertaken.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) shares edged lower on Wednesday. Although the company late on Tuesday reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth quarter results, it provided a very gloomy outlook on revenue for the fiscal first quarter of 2013.

Elsewhere in Europe, equities ended mixed with France’s CAC and Spain’s Ibex 35 ending lower. The Stoxx 600 Index gained 0.19%, FTSE 100 edged up 0.30% while Germany’s DAX added 0.15% for the day.