 "Apple weighs on Wall Street; oil, gold prices slip")
Apple's results weighed on US stock prices on Wednesday after the technology giant posted its first annual revenue decline since 2001, while oil and gold prices slipped.
Apple , the world's largest company by market capitalisation, fell 2.2 per cent after it acknowledged the strong demand for its iPhone 7 Plus caught the company off-guard and it was struggling to keep up with demand.
The technology giant pulled down the S&P 500 stock index and Nasdaq, but gains in Boeing buoyed the price-weighted Dow Industrials.
Boeing shares were trading at their highest level this year, after the world's largest planemaker reported a jump in quarterly profit despite slower sales.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 30.06 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 18,199.33, the S&P 500 lost 3.73 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 2,139.43 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 33.13 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 5,250.27.
Disappointing results and forecasts from some other major US companies weighed on European and Asian stocks.
Mixed results from Europe's banking sector and declines in mining and energy shares helped push the pan-European STOXX 600 index down 0.38 per cent.
Gold prices fell as investor appetite for riskier assets recovered slightly, denting demand for safe-haven bullion.
Spot gold fell 0.63 per cent to $1,265.86 an ounce by 4:00 p.m. ET (20:00 GMT).
Oil prices bounced off session lows for a time after the US government reported a surprise drawdown in crude inventories, but oil ended lower on growing doubts that the Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) would cut production enough to drain a global oversupply.
US crude oil futures were at $49.17 a barrel, down 79 cents or 1.58 per cent at 4:00 p.m. ET (20:00 GMT). They had dipped to $48.87, the lowest since October 4.
Brent crude was down 88 cents, or 1.73 per cent, at $49.91, their weakest level in nearly a month.
The US dollar dipped against a basket of major currencies, reflecting nervousness surrounding Federal Reserve monetary policy and the US election, a day after touching a nearly nine-month high.
"We've had a dollar rally, and I think we're in the consolidation phase," said Vassili Serebriakov, FX strategist at Credit Agricole in New York. He noted the Fed's November policy meeting and the November 8 US election as potential risks to the dollar's upside.
Sterling recovered from Monday's lows after Bank of England governor Mark Carney said in a speech the central bank could not ignore the effect of sterling's slide on inflation.
This increased expectations that policymakers would leave rates unchanged next week, rather than cut them as many had expected.
Sterling rose 0.43 per cent to $1.2238, coming off Monday's trough of $1.2081, which was the lowest level since the October 7 "flash crash" .
US Treasury debt yields also rose, bolstered by a fresh batch of economic data that enhanced the outlook for third-quarter US gross domestic product data due on Friday.
Gains in Treasury yields also spurred rises in other global bond markets. But yields, which move inversely to prices, were capped as the decline in oil kept inflation expectations in check.
