Retailers led U.S. stocks slightly higher Wednesday as better than expected earnings from Target lifted fellow department store chains Kohl's and J.C. Penney.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a gain of 9.69 points, or 0.09%, to 10415.54, boosted by retail giant Home Depot, up 55 cents, or 1.94%, to 28.86. Fellow home improvement retailer Lowe's, not a Dow component, climbed 80 cents, or 4%, to 20.79. The Nasdaq Composite gained 6.26, or 0.28%, to 2215.70.

The Nasdaq rose three straight sessions for the first time since the three day period that ended July 26. The Standard & Poor's 500 share index added 1.62, or 0.15%, to 1094.16, also its longest advancing streak since July 26.

The measure was led by its consumer discretionary sector as better than expected earnings at Target helped lift other department store operators.

Target rose 1.27, or 2.5%, to 51.95, after its fiscal second quarter earnings rose 14% as cost cutting helped overcome disappointing sales and the company said it is making significant headway in getting its credit card business back on track.

Department store chain Kohl's gained 1.69, or 3.7%, to 47.00, while Macy's rose 54 cents, or 2.6%, to 21.05. J.C. Penney added 52 cents, or 2.6%, to 20.66.

Investors fretted that as second quarter earnings season winds down, the market may lose one of its last sources of encouraging news.

Meanwhile energy stocks lagged Wednesday as crude oil prices touched a five week low before settling only 0.5% lower. Consol Energy fell 99 cents, or 2.7%, to 35.32.

Range Resources shed 81 cents, or 2.3%, to 35.10, and El Paso declined 25 cents, or 2.1%, to 11.73. Exxon Mobil was the Dow's worst performer, off 67 cents, or 1.1%, to 60.15. Chevron also weakened, down 73 cents, or 0.9%, to 77.04.

European market

European shares lost ground Wednesday, with commodity-sector stocks the worst performers as investors took some profits off the table and BHP Billiton's move for Potash Corp. took a hostile turn.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.3% to close at 257.60. Miners took back some of the strong gains seen Tuesday, with Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. falling 4.3%. Elsewhere in the sector, Fresnillo shares fell 1.9% and Anglo American shares lost 1.5%.

BHP Billiton shares declined 3.4% after it said that it will take its $130 a share offer for Canadian fertilizer firm Potash Corp. directly to Potash shareholders. Still, Xstrata shares gained 1.1% amid market speculation that shareholder Glencore could be mulling a bid for the Anglo-Swiss mining giant.

Xstrata wasn't immediately available for comment. Of the main regional European benchmarks, the U.K. FTSE 100 index lost 0.9% to close at 5,302.87, the German DAX index declined 0.3% to end at 6,186.31 and the French CAC-40 index settled 0.4% lower at 3,647.93.

Asian market

Asian stocks ended mixed Wednesday as some investors stayed on the sidelines amid a lack of trading cues, while agriculture firms in Australia gained on BHP Billiton's bid for Canada's Potash Corp.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.9%, South Korea's Kospi added 0.4%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.5%, the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.2%, and Taiwan's benchmark stock index was 0.1% lower.

Australia listed agricultural companies were higher with industry participants suggesting BHP's US$38.6 billion bid for Potash Corp, despite being rejected, was helping to maintain global interest in the farm sector, pulling focus to its promising long-term fundamentals.

Japanese stocks rose on the back of gains on Wall Street with exporters also helped by a slightly weaker yen. Nikon added 1.5%, Honda Motor rose 2.4% and Sony gained 0.7%.

Commodities and metals

Copper rebounded to close marginally higher on the London Metal Exchange Wednesday after an erratic day of trading in which uncertainty over the economic outlook continued to weigh on the complex.

Base metals ended the kerb close mixed as the markets struggled from a lack of clear direction, with no major statistical releases available to provide cues.

Prices came under particular pressure early in the afternoon, with a spate of selling sending the three month copper contract down 0.8% to an intraday low of $7,310 a metric ton.

Spot gold had fallen to an intraday low of $1,216 a troy ounce, as some investors booked profits on a lack of fresh drivers for the yellow metal. It has since recovered strongly, though, and was trading at $1,231/oz, up 0.6% on the day.

Crude futures settled slightly lower Wednesday, after a wild ride through most of the trading session sparked by conflicting oil inventory data and a turnaround in equities markets.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery settled 35 cents, or 0.5%, lower at $75.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled 46 cents lower at $76.47 a barrel. Oil prices fell sharply early in the session, dropping below $74 before inventory data from the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration refuted an earlier report from the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, showing a sharp rise in stockpiles.

A move higher in equities markets, which have led crude for several weeks as a sign of future economic growth, also helped pare losses.

A modest move up in gold prices put the yellow metal at a six week high amid continued uncertainty about the outlook for global economic growth.

The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, rose $3.10 to settle at $1,231.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. This is the highest close since June 30.