Stocks Opened Mixed After Obama Speech

U.S. stocks opened mixed on Wednesday after President Barack Obama delayed making a call on military action against Syria. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately was up 28.07 points, or 0.18%, at 15,219.13. The S&P 500 index shed 1.53 points, or 0.09%, to 1,682.46. The Nasdaq Composite fell 11.02 points, or 0.30%, to 3,718.00.

Verizon Communications launched a $49 billion eight-tranche bond on Wednesday that will partly finance its $130 billion buyout of its wireless operations Verizon Wireless from Vodafone, setting a new record for the largest ever corporate bond.

The higher-than-expected price of Apple Inc’s new cheaper iPhone eased worries about gross margins, while arousing concerns the company was not being aggressive enough in its fight against Google Inc’s market-dominating Android operating system.

The unemployment rate in the U.K. fell to 7.7% in the period from May to July, down from a level of 7.8% in the months from February to April, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday.

Crude-oil futures wobbled between small gains and losses Wednesday after President Barack Obama said that diplomatic measures may resolve a standoff with Syria. Crude oil for October delivery  was last down 3 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $107.36 a barrel in electronic trading.