Stocks Opened Lower before Home Sales Data

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Wednesday, as investors focused on earnings from companies such as Boeing Co. and Delta Air Lines, Inc. and awaited new home sales figures due at 10 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately slipped 17.21 point, or 0.10%, at 16,497.16. The S&P 500 was off 2.58 points, or 0.41%, at 1,876.97. The Nasdaq Composite was down 15.41 points, or 0.37%, at 4,146.05.

Boeing Co. (BA) said its first-quarter per-share adjusted profit rose to $1.76 from $1.73 a year earlier as revenue increased to $20.47 billion from $18.89 billion, topping forecasts. Boeing said it expects between $7.15 and $7.35 in adjusted per-share earnings for the full year.

Delta Air Lines on Wednesday reported a higher-than-expected first quarter profit as revenue rose and the company benefited from lower fuel and plane maintenance costs. Net income was $213 million, or 25 cents a share, up from $7 million, or one cent a share, for the year-earlier first period.Excluding items such as fuel-hedge contract adjustments and charges for fleet changes, profit was 33 cents a share, compared with 29 cents expected by analysts on average, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Procter & Gamble reported a 5% increase in core profit for its third fiscal quarter of 2014. P&G reported $20.6 billion in third quarter revenue, a figure that comes in a hair below the Street consensus of $20.66 billion and is virtually unchanged compared to the prior-year quarter. Third quarter net income came in at $2.6 billion, up 2% from the prior-year quarter and resulting in earnings of 90 cents per share.

British manufacturers are more confident than at any time in the past 40 years, according to a survey by the Confederation of British Industry, the latest indication that the U.K.’s economic recovery has continued to gain momentum in recent months.