US stocks closed mixed, Boeing falls

New York - US stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday, as Boeing's latest aircraft problem overshadowed strong earnings from leading banks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 23.66 points at 13,511.23.

The broad-based S&P 500 edged higher by 0.29 point, to 1,472.63.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 6.77 to 3,117.54.

The middling performance came as Boeing returned to the headlines on news that a 787 Dreamliner plane operated by All Nippon Airways made an emergency landing in Japan.

ANA and Japan Airlines, Japan's two biggest airlines, grounded their 787 fleets pending safety checks, a move that follows a series of incidents that prompted a US federal safety review.

Dow member Boeing's shares shed 3.4%.

JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs both rose after besting earnings expectations. JP Morgan was up 1.0%, while Goldman jumped 4.1%.

The results also boosted other leading banks, including Bank of America (+2.0%), which reports Thursday, and Morgan Stanley (+0.5%), which reports Friday.

Apple, which has been under selling pressure of late due to concerns about demand for its latest iPhone, soared by 4.2%.

Hewlett-Packard jumped 4.1% on news that it received interest from potential buyers for its Autonomy unit.

Dell, which rallied in recent sessions on speculation that it would soon go private, gave up some of those gains, falling 4.3%.

Shares of General Motors fell 4.2% following a report from a European automobile trade association that put its 2012 sales at the lowest level since 1995. Shares of Ford also retreated, by 0.6%.

Cobalt International Energy, an exploration company, lost 7.1% after announcing it would issue an additional 40 million shares.

Also issuing new shares was Onxx Pharmaceuticals, which was off 5%.

Fast-food company Chipotle Mexican Grill was 5.5% lower after releasing a weak fourth-quarter outlook.

Movie rental company Netflix fell 4.1%.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 1.82 late on Wednesday from 1.83 a day earlier. The yield on the 30-year US Treasury was flat at 3.02. Bond prices and yields move inversely.