Stocks Opened Little Changed; Oil Dropped

U.S. stocks opened little changed on Wednesday, as a drop in oil prices weighed on the main indexes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately was up 0.21 point, to 18,053.81. The S&P 500 was down 0.39 point, to 2,100.41. The Nasdaq Composite fell 6.50 points or 0.13%, to 4,933.83.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday as investor focus returned to worries about oversupply after Kuwaiti workers ended a three-day strike that had halved the nation’s crude output. Brent futures were down 60 cents at $43.43 a barrel at 1138 GMT. U.S. crude was down 73 cents at $40.35, after dipping below $40.

Coca-Cola Co. on Tuesday said revenue and profit declined in its latest quarter as soda volume was flat amid weakness abroad. Coke posted a profit of $1.48 billion, or 34 cents a share, down from $1.56 billion, or 35 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 4% to $10.28 billion.

EMC Corp., in the process of being taken private by Dell Inc., logged disappointing results in its latest quarter amid an excess of unfilled orders. EMC reported a profit of $268 million, or 14 cents a share, up from $252 million, or 13 cents, a year earlier. Revenue slipped 2.5% to $5.48 billion.

Dish Network Corp. posted surprise profit growth in the first-quarter, even as revenue grew less than expected and subscribership declined. The company reported net income of $389.3 million, or 84 cents a share, up from $351.5 million, or 76 cents, a year ago. Revenue increased to $3.79 billion from $3.72 billion in the prior-year period.