Stocks stall as Boeing, Caterpillar earnings miss

Stocks finished little changed on Wednesday after two industrial heavyweights released their quarterly results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 45.85 points, or 0.17 percent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were higher by 0.28 percent and 0.19 percent, respectively.

Dow component Caterpillar reported earnings and revenue that fell short of expectations as dealers slashed their inventories amid global trade uncertainty. The equipment maker also cut its per-share profit expectations for the year.

Meanwhile, fellow Dow component Boeing said third-quarter sales fell 21 percent year over year to a better-than-expected $19.98 billion as the grounding of its best-selling 737 Max continued to halt deliveries. The planemaker’s adjusted earnings of $1.45 a share were well below expectations. Boeing says it still expects the 737 Max to return to the skies before the end of the year.

Elsewhere on the earnings front, Snap reported daily active users rose by a better-than-expected 7 million, but gave a disappointing revenue forecast for the fourth quarter.

The fast-casual burrito chain Chipotle reported third-quarter same-store sales rose 11 percent, topping the 9.3 percent gain that was expected. Adjusted earnings came in at a better-than-expected $3.82 a share on in-line revenue of $1.4 billion.

Facebook shares gained as CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before a House panel on the social network’s proposed cryptocurrency Libra.

Tesla slid ahead of its third-quarter results, which were due out after the closing bell. Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting an adjusted loss of 41 cents a share on revenue of $6.34 billion.

On the commodities front, West Texas Intermediate crude oil rallied 2.2 percent to $55.80 a barrel after the Energy Information Administration’s weekly inventory report showed a surprise draw of 1.7 million barrels.

U.S. Treasurys were little changed, with the 10-year holding near 1.76 percent.