US stocks rise on mixed earnings

Wall Street stocks opened higher Wednesday on a flood of mixed earnings reports, some of which bested expectations.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17,980.72, up 31.13 points (0.17 percent).

The broad-based S&P 500 added 3.36 (0.16 percent) at 2,100.65, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 10.57 (0.21 percent) to 5,024.67.

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

Dow member Coca-Cola rose 1.6 percent after first-quarter earnings fell 3.8 percent to $1.56 billion due to the strong dollar. That translated into 48 cents per share, six cents above forecasts.