US open: Stocks struggle for direction as traders weigh earnings

US stocks were little changed on Wednesday as oil prices moved higher and investors sifted through corporate earnings in the absence of economic data.

At 1520 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.06% , the S&P 500 fell 0.09% and the Nasdaq dropped 0.20%.

At the same time oil prices recovered from earlier lows as the US Energy Information Administration revised its outlook for US crude production higher.

The EIA now expects output to average 8.73m barrels a day this year and 8.31m barrels a day next year, up from its previous forecast of 8.61m per day and 8.2m a day, respectively.

Separately, the EIA said weekly US crude inventories rose 1.1m barrels last week to 523.6m barrels, "historically high levels for this time of year".

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.60% to $43.03 per barrel and Brent edged up 0.72% to $45.31 per barrel at 1524 BST.

It follows the latest US crude inventory report from the API which showed an unexpected build in stockpiles for the third successive week.

In corporate news, Walt Disney shares gained after posting better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue late on Tuesday.

SolarCity Corp. declined after it reported a bigger-than-expected loss for the second quarter.

Michael Kors Holdings slumped after giving a downbeat sales outlook as it reported quarterly results that beat expectations.

Yelp surged as its second-quarter results late on Tuesday topped analysts’ expectations, but SunPower Corp. tumbled after the solar panel maker downgraded its guidance and said it will cut 1,200 jobs.