Stocks Mixed After a New Batch of Earnings

Stocks were mixed early Wednesday as continued strong earnings, including from Apple Inc., bolstered thinking corporate America is faring well, regardless of other economic headwinds. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 3.40 points to 12,584.02. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 2.48 points to 1,329.21. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 4.57 points to 2,831.09.

Apple Inc shares surged 6 percent in pre-market trading on Wednesday, a day after the company posted stellar results even by its own lofty standards, prompting several analysts to raise their earnings targets for the iPhone maker.

American Airlines is buying at least 460 new planes over the next five years in what it calls the biggest airline order in history. And in a victory for Airbus, it’s splitting the work between the European plane maker and Boeing.

Investors in Nokia Corp. are desperate for some good news, but they are unlikely to get it Thursday when the struggling Finnish mobile-phone maker reports second-quarter earnings. Expectations have been steadily lowered, particularly after the firm warned in late May that second-quarter revenue would miss its targets

Skullcandy Inc., which sells fancy headphones, decorative iPod cases and T-shirts emblazoned with its skull logo, raised $188.8 million in an expanded initial public offering that priced above expectations.

Oil prices climbed above $99 a barrel Wednesday thanks to a weaker dollar and after a report showed U.S. crude supplies dropped more than expected, a sign that demand may be improving. By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for August delivery was up $1.18 to $99.04 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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