MarketView for January 22

Summary

The S&P 500 closed flat on Wednesday as a mixed bag of corporate earnings failed to raise confidence sufficiently enough to send equities higher. For the second day in a row, the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted outsized losses following weak results from one of its components while the Nasdaq moved higher, with BlackBerry one of its largest gainers.

IBM fell 3.3 percent to end the day at $182.25, making it the largest loser among the Dow 30 stocks after the tech giant missed revenue expectations for a fourth straight quarter amid weakening demand, particularly in growth markets like China.

The results followed disappointments from Verizon, Travelers and Johnson & Johnson, all of which weighed on the blue-chip index on Tuesday. IBM's decline offset modest gains from fellow component United Technologies, which rose 1 percent to end the day at $116.12 after United Tech reported fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded Street expectations, although revenue was a bit light.

With 16 percent of the S&P 500 companies having reported their quarterly results, about 61 percent have exceeded profit expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data, as compared with the average of 67 percent over the past four quarters. More than 66 percent have topped revenue expectations, above the 55 percent average over that timeframe.

About eight companies have issued negative outlooks for every positive one, which would mark the lowest ratio on record should it continue.

After the market closed on Wednesday, Netflix reported a rise in fourth-quarter earnings, helped by subscriber growth. Shares surged 17 percent in after-hours trading.

EBay gained 11 percent to $60.44 in after hours trading following its results.

After a 29.6 percent jump in 2013, the S&P 500 is now down 0.2 percent this year as investors look to corporate profits to justify current prices. The index is 0.2 percent away from its all-time closing high.

Advanced Micro Devices fell 12 percent to $3.67 after forecasting a steeper-than-expected decline in current quarter revenue, while Coach was down 6 percent to $49.38 as the S&P's worst performer after it said sales in North America fell further in the final quarter of 2013.

On the upside, Norfolk Southern chalked up a gain of 4.8 percent to close at $92.94 after its earnings beat expectations, helping lift the Dow Jones Transportation average chalk up a record high.

Nuance Communications rose 7.8 percent to $16.05 after giving a first-quarter outlook, helping to boost the Nasdaq. BlackBerry also buoyed the tech-heavy index, rising 8.6 percent to $10.78. Shares of the smartphone maker are up about 26 percent over the past three sessions.

Approximately 6.23 billion shares changed hands on the major equity exchanges, according to BATS exchange data.