US stocks were little changed late Wednesday morning as investors assessed a flood of quarterly earnings reports. More than half of the S&P 500 companies have reported results so far, with their combined earnings estimated to have risen 8.2 percent - the most in nine quarters. Declines in financials and energy sectors, however, weighed on the market.
US crude fell 0.5 percent after data showed a much bigger-than-expected build in crude stockpiles. The S&P 500 0.85 percent, trading at its lowest since Nov. 29.
Financial stocks, which have gained the most since Donald Trump's victory in the US Presidential election in November, were down 1.11 percent, putting them on track for their third straight day of decline.
Goldman Sachs' 1.2 percent fall weighed the most on the Dow.
"It's a relatively quiet day, with stocks reacting mostly to earnings reports," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab and Co in Austin, Texas.
At 11:11 am ET (1611 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 25.81 points, or 0.13 percent, at 20,064.48; the S&P 500 was up 0.59 points, or 0.02 percent, at 2,293.67 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 4.68 points, or 0.08 percent, at 5,678.90. Healthcare was off 0.22 percent, dragged down by Gilead. The drugmaker's stock, which also weighed on the S&P and the Nasdaq, was down 9.3 percent after the company projected disappointing sales for its hepatitis C drugs this year.
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