Wall Street was mixed in midday trade after bad news from Boeing, a forecast on home sales for the year that was revised downward, and warnings from more than one company.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.74 percent lower to 14,060.32 as it lost nearly all of the 120 points it gained on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.37 percent to 1,559.4.
On the other hand, the Nasdaq Composite was slightly higher, up just 0.03 percent to 2,804.89.
Aerospace group Boeing (NYSE: BA; TYO: 7661) was $3.10 lower to $98.35 after it said that the first deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner aircraft will be delayed by half a year.
In the oil sector, Chevron (NYSE: CVX) dropped $1.89 to $90.92 after it said profits in the third quarter will be substantially below those in the previous quarter.
International Paper (NYSE: IP) was down 76 cents to $36.30 after it said it won’t earn as much as previously projected from land sales.
As the quarterly reporting period began, Alcoa (NYSE: AA) was fell $1.26 to $38.49 after it said that while profits were up by 3 percent, revenues in the quarter were lower.
There was good news, however, in the retail sector as Costco (NAS: COST) gained $5.26 to $68.70 on results that were better than had been anticipated.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors issued a lowered forecast for the eighth time, saying that existing home sales will be down 10.8 percent from last year.