US stocks dip as Coke, McDonald's, Boeing deliver Q1 earnings

Wall Street stocks dropped in early trade Wednesday amid mixed first quarter reports, with Coke and McDonald's reporting earnings falls but Boeing announcing solid gains.

About 35 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17,918.22, down 31.37 points (0.17 percent).

The broad-based S&P 500 added 3.47(0.17 percent) at 2,093.82, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 15.02 (0.30 percent) to 4,999.08.

Analysts say stocks have benefited from low-ball forecasts ahead of the first quarter earnings season that have allowed many companies to outperform.

In some cases, companies have bested expectations for profit, but fallen short on revenues.

Dow member Coca-Cola rose 1.1 percent despite first-quarter earnings falling 3.8 percent to $1.56 billion due to the strong dollar. That translated into 48 cents per share, six cents above forecasts.

McDonald's, another Dow component, surged 4.5 percent as it vowed to unveil a turnaround plan in two weeks following another round of dismal results. Net income in the first quarter plunged 32.6 percent to $812 million.

Dow member Boeing dropped 1.5 percent as analysts focused on rising costs for 787 production rather than a 38.9 percent jump in net income to $1.34 billion. Revenues of $22.15 billion came in just short of the $22.49 billion projected by analysts.

Yahoo lost 1.2 percent after first-quarter earnings dived 93 percent to $21.1 million behind sharply higher costs due to increased product and development spending and restructuring expenses. The company cut 1,100 jobs during the quarter.

Other companies reporting earnings included Amgen (-0.1 percent), Chipotle Mexican Grill (-7.2 percent), EMC (+2.2 percent) and Yum Brands (+3.9 percent).

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 1.93 percent from 1.92 percent Tuesday, while the 30-year advanced to 2.61 percent from 2.59 percent.