US stocks flat as market eyes retailers

New York  - Wall Street stocks opened little changed on Wednesday as corporate earnings from the retail industry offered mixed signals about US consumers.

Apparel and handbag maker Michael Kors dropped 1.5% after reporting lower first-quarter net income, while accessories maker Fossil jumped 4.6% after reporting its results.

Earnings from Walmart and other large retailers over the next two weeks are among the most anticipated items in an otherwise quiet period of the year.

About 15 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1% at 18 542.23.

The broad-based S&P 500 was essentially flat at 2 181.60, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.1% at 5 219.62.