U.S. STOCK MARKETS

Upbeat earnings from Boeing and Caterpillar helped the Dow industrials rise for the first day in four. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 58.73 points, or 0.5%, to 12676.05.

The blue-chip benchmark had fallen at least 100 points in each of the previous three sessions. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, meanwhile, edged down 0.42 point, or less than 0.1%, to 1337.89, its fourth-straight daily loss.

Technology shares led declines in four of the index's 10 sectors as Apple, the world's biggest company by market capitalization, dropped 4.3%, its largest drop since October.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 8.75 points, or 0.3%, to 2854.24. Apple reported earnings and revenue below analysts' forecasts, as iPhone sales rose less than anticipated.

That marked only the second time in the past 39 quarters that results missed expectations. Shares of Boeing rose 2.8%, leading the Dow higher, after the company raised its financial projections for the year on higher international defense and commercial-jet sales.

Caterpillar gained 1.4% after the world's biggest seller of bulldozers, excavators and other earth-moving machinery boosted its profit forecast, despite widespread fears the global economy could worsen.

Weighing on the broader market, sales of newly built homes in the U.S. dropped more than expected to the lowest level in five months in June, according to the Commerce Department. In other earnings news, Netflix tumbled 25%, the biggest slide among S&P 500 components after giving a downbeat outlook for the third quarter.

Eli Lilly rose 2.7% after the pharmaceutical company reported better-than-expected second-quarter results and raised its full-year earnings outlook.

RadioShack plunged 29% after the electronics seller reported a surprise second-quarter loss on lower consumer-electronics sales and a disappointing gross margin rate, and suspended the payment of its dividend. WellPoint, poised to be the largest U.S. health insurer after its planned acquisition of Amerigroup, slid 12% after lowering projections for earnings and membership this year.

EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS

European stock markets bounced between gains and losses Wednesday, as comments from European Central Bank policy maker Ewald Nowotny about the region's rescue fund lent support, while weak U.S. housing data checked investor sentiment.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index shed 0.1% to close at 250.39. The index, in positive territory for most of Wednesday's session, slipped into losses in afternoon trading, as U.S. sales of new single-family homes fell 8.4% in June, coloring investor sentiment both on Wall Street and across the Atlantic.

Stocks got an early push from Mr. Nowotny, who reportedly said there are arguments in favor of giving the European Stability Mechanism, the European Union's rescue fund, a banking license. Such a license would allow it to borrow money from the ECB, according to Bloomberg.

The comments helped ease pressure on Spain's borrowing costs. The yield on its 10-year government bonds fell back 21 basis points to 7.34%, according to electronic trading platform Tradeweb.

Spain's IBEX 35 index added 0.8% to 6,004.90. In Germany, Daimler AG advanced 4.1% after the car maker affirmed its full-year earnings outlook, despite posting a lower profit for the second quarter.

Volkswagen AG and BMW AG both tracked Daimler higher, adding 1.3%. The DAX 30 index rose 0.3% to 6,406.52, shaking off a drop in the Ifo business climate index to 103.3.

In France, the CAC 40 index gained 0.2% to 3,081.74, lifted by banks. Credit Agricole SA rose 1.4%, while Societe Generale SA added 1.2%. Shares of Peugeot SA fell 2.5%, however.

The car maker presented plans to raise 1.5 billion euros ($1.81 billion), as it swung to a loss in the first half of the year. Meanwhile, U.K. stocks trailed other major European bourses, weighed by weak economic-growth data.

Gross domestic product fell 0.7% in the second quarter compared with the first quarter, hit by a 5.2% drop in the construction sector. Overall, the FTSE 100 index inched marginally lower to 5,498.32, supported by bank heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC, up 1.4%. Shares of BT Group PLC dropped 3.3%, as its first-quarter sales declined and missed analyst expectations.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS

Asian markets fell Wednesday because of concerns over Europe's debt crisis and as disappointing Apple earnings in the U.S. pushed down technology manufacturers in Asia. Sentiment was damaged by news of uninspiring corporate earnings in the U.S. overnight.

At the forefront was Apple, which delivered disappointing numbers after the session in New York finished. Below-expectation earnings from one of the world's most famous consumer-electronics companies had knock-on effects on electronics companies in Asia, which was felt hardest in technology-heavy markets such as South Korea and Japan.

The Nikkei ended the day 1.4% down at 8365.90, putting the market back into negative territory for the year, as the market was also hindered by a stronger currency.

The Japanese benchmark sank to a seven-week low, with bellweather electronics companies Sony and Panasonic slumping 5.2% and 5.5% respectively. South Korea's Kospi fell 1.4% to 1769.31. In addition to the sell-off in technology stocks, investors offloaded car makers and chemical stocks.

The Apple results were bad news for regional companies that supply the U.S. tech giant. In South Korea, LG Display dropped 4.8%; in Japan, Sharp lost 10%; and in Taiwan, Hon Hai Precision, the company that assembles iPhones and iPads, fell 4.3%.

European gloom also continued to darken the mood, after a Reuters report said that Greece would need to restructure its debt again, reminding investors that the debt crisis is far from over.

In China, the Shanghai Composite ended the day 0.5% lower at 2136.15, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 0.1% down at 18877.33.

In deal news, hospital operator IHH Healthcare Bhd. had a strong debut in Singapore and Malaysia, with the company's shares in Malaysia up 9.1% compared with its IPO.

Cheung Kong Holdings, Li Ka-shing's flagship property developer, fell 0.9% after the company announced that it would lead a consortium to purchase U.K. gas distribution company MGN Gas Networks for 645 million pounds sterling ($1 billion).

COMMODITIES

Base metals closed mostly a touch higher on the London Metal Exchange Wednesday as a more stable tone in wider financial markets allowed the complex to find its feet.

At the close, LME three-month copper was 0.4% higher at $7,446 a metric ton. Tin lagged the complex, closing 1.1% lower at $17,340/ton.

Crude oil futures prices rallied late Wednesday in response to a rebound in equities prices, shaking off bearish U.S. oil inventory data to settle modestly higher.

Prices had gone into a tailspin, dropping by as much as 1.9% intraday after the Energy Information Administration said crude oil stocks jumped by 2.7 million barrels last week.

Analysts had expected a drop of 800,000 barrels, but a jump in imports and the highest domestic output since February 1999 pushed inventories higher. Light, sweet crude oil for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled 47 cents higher, at $88.97 a barrel, after hitting a post-data low of $86.84 a barrel.

September North Sea Brent crude on the Intercontinental Exchange settled 96 cents higher, at $104.38 a barrel. Gold futures finished above $1,600 an ounce for the first time in more than two weeks as some traders bet that a deteriorating global growth outlook would compel the Federal Reserve to try to stimulate economic activity.

The most-actively traded gold contract, for August delivery, rose $31.90, or 2%, to settle at $1,608.10 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement price since July 5. The front-month July contract rose $32, or 2%, to settle at $1,608 a troy ounce. compiled from MORRISON SECURITIES PTY. LTD.