US stocks slightly rise as investors assess corporate earnings

Three stocks rose for every two that declined in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. The U.S. equity benchmark added less than 0.1% to 1,844.86 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 41.10 points, or 0.3%, to 16,373.34 for a second day of declines. About 6.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 3% above the three-month average.

“You have people saying theyre bullish, but their money isnt saying that,” said to The Wall Street Journal, Bryan Novak, director of trading and senior managing director for Astor Investment Management, which manages $700 million. “I dont think people know which way to move right now, and thats the problem.”

So far, of the 86 index members that have posted results so far this season, 70% have beaten estimates for profit and 65% have exceeded sales projections. Twenty-five companies in the S&P 500 including Northern Trust Corp., Netflix Inc. and EBay Inc. report earnings today.

In corporate news, United Technologies rose 1% after the blue-chip industrials company, which makes elevators, air-conditioning systems and Blackhawk helicopters, reported fourth-quarter earnings above forecasts. Its revenue came up a bit short.

Coach slumped 6% after reporting disappointing earnings, amid a substantial decline in traffic in its North American stores. Retail stocks have faced pressure in 2014, with the S&P Retail Select Industry Index down 6% after a roaring 42% rally last year.

IBM dropped 3.3% to $182.25 for the biggest retreat in the Dow. The world’s biggest computer-services provider said revenue declined to $27.7 billion in the three months through December. Profit dropped at the company’s hardware unit partly because of its x86 server business, according to Chief Financial Officer Martin Schroeter.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. declined 12% to $3.67 for the biggest drop since October. The maker of processors for personal computers predicted that revenue will be from $1.29 billion to $1.38 billion in the first quarter. The average analyst projection had called for sales of $1.37 billion.

Apple rose slightly after activist investor Carl Icahn announced he has raised his stake in the tech giant, and now holds more than $3 billion worth of shares.

Motorola Solutions Inc. fell 3.9% to $64.51. The mobile communications company forecast first-quarter profit below analyst estimates and said it expects sales to decline between 4% and 6%. Analysts were predicting a 2% revenue gain.