Mixed earnings put brakes on Dow rally

NEW YORK — Investors aren’t giving up on the stock market’s rally, but they’re not making big bets either.

Stocks ended a quiet day mixed Wednesday as traders were hesitant to commit more money to the market after a weeklong surge. The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped, while the Nasdaq composite index rose.

The Dow fell 34.68, or 0.4 percent, to 8,881.26. The broader S&P 500 index slipped 0.51, or 0.1 percent, to 954.07, and the Nasdaq rose 10.18, or 0.5 percent, to 1,926.38, helped by Apple and Starbucks. It was the 11th straight gain for the Nasdaq.

A mix of earnings reports drove trading. Apple Inc. and Starbucks Inc. jumped on their results, but chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and big bank Wells Fargo & Co. slid.

The market’s incremental moves weren’t surprising after strong earnings reports for the April-June quarter lifted major stock indicators up more than eight percent in just seven days. The gains reignited a rally that ran from early March through mid-June before stalling as signs of improvement in the economy started to dry up.

Analysts say it’s not surprising to see the market slow its climb as investors raise their expectations.

“As the earnings season goes on, it becomes more difficult because the bar goes higher and higher,” said John Canally, economist at LPL Financial in Boston.

Major market indexes seesawed Wednesday as they had a day earlier. Stocks pushed higher Tuesday after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy was recovering, though at a slow pace.

Earnings reports directed trading Wednesday. Apple rose $5.23, or 3.5 percent, to $156.74 after robust sales of laptops and iPhones pushed its profit and revenue above what analysts had expected.

Starbucks surged $2.70, or 18.4 percent, to $17.39 after the coffee chain shut stores, laid off workers and cut other costs to produce fiscal third-quarter results that topped expectations.

Advanced Micro Devices fell 53 cents, or 13 percent, to $3.55 after its second-quarter loss narrowed less than analysts expected.