US stocks closed mixed amid data, earnings

US stocks closed mixed on Wednesday as investors digested a batch of corporate earnings reports and key economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 88.69 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 25,733.60. The S&P 500 decreased 1.14 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 2,861.82, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 29.92 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 7,889.10.

US department store retailer Target released quarterly earnings results on Wednesday that topped Wall Street's expectations. Its adjusted earnings per share reached $1.47 for the second quarter while its revenue stood at $17.78 billion.

Shares of Target surged on Wednesday, closing 3.21 per cent higher at $85.94 apiece.

On the economic front, existing home sales subsided for the fourth straight month in July to their slowest pace in over two years, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Total existing home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, fell 0.7 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.34 million units last month, the association said on Wednesday.

The Fed's annual economic symposium that will start later this week in Jackson Hole in the US state of Wyoming is also in focus.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to deliver a speech on Friday, and the summit will be themed around the idea of changing market structure and the implications for monetary policy going forward.

--IANS

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