Stocks steady amid mixed corporate results

MILAN (AP) -- Mixed U.S. corporate earnings took the steam out of world markets, which had been buoyed earlier Tuesday by improved European consumer confidence and China's pledge to maintain economic growth.

Chemicals giant DuPont reported a 12 percent earnings drop for the second quarter, while package delivery company UPS posted a 4 percent decline. Fast-foot outlet Wendy's, however, beat Wall Street expectations.

Overall, the news encouraged investors to remain cautious. The FTSE 100 index of British shares fell 0.4 percent to close at 6,597 while Germany's DAX dropped 0.2 percent to 8,314. The CAC-40 in France ended 0.4 percent lower at 3,923.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 15 points at 15,561, an increase of 0.1 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 2.8 points to 1,692. The Nasdaq was 14 points lower to 3,586.

European markets were supported briefly by news that consumer confidence in the 17-country eurozone, as measured by the European Commission, hit a 23-month high in July. Analysts said it was likely driven by growing optimism about the economic outlook, though the level is still far from the historic average, however.

Despite improvements, IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer warned, European consumer confidence "is still limited compared to long-term norms while eurozone consumers continue to largely face high and rising unemployment, generally muted wage growth and tight fiscal policy."

Asian and European markets had also risen after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang vowed that the government would not let economic growth slip below 7 percent.

China's Shanghai Composite jumped 2 percent to 2,043.88 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 2.3 percent to 21,915.42.

Analysts said the previous day's downbeat news on the U.S. economy was double-edged for financial markets.

On one hand, the surprising drop in sales of existing homes in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.08 million dampened optimism about the U.S. economic recovery. But investors could also interpret the weak data as ensuring continued bond-buying by the Federal Reserve. The bond-buying has been keeping market interest rates low in recent years, helping investors raise cheap money to invest in assets like stocks.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.8 percent to 14,778.51, its second day of gains since Prime Minister's Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition gained control of the upper house in weekend elections. That could make it easier for Abe's administration to implement reforms aimed at lifting the world's No. 3 economy out of its long slump.

In currency markets, the dollar rose to 99.71 yen from 99.32 yen. The euro rose to $1.3209 from $1.3186.

Benchmark crude for September delivery was up 11 cents to $107.06 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Youkyung Lee in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.