US stocks little changed following mixed earnings

Wall Street stocks finished little changed Wednesday following mixed corporate earnings and a second day of congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up to a new record, rising 15.38 points (0.08 percent) to 18,224.57.
The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 1.62 (0.08 percent) to 2,113.86, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.98 (0.02 percent) at 4,967.14.
TJX, which owns Marshall's, TJ Maxx and other discount apparel and home-goods chains, rose 3.3 percent after announcing it would raise its dividend and buy back more shares following strong earnings.
But technology giant Hewlett-Packard sank 9.9 percent after warning of a big drag from the strong dollar as it reported lower earnings.
Markets shrugged off Yellen's second day of testimony, to a House of Representatives panel, after her remarks in the Senate Tuesday had helped lift the Dow and the S&P 500 to record closes.
"Fed Chair Janet Yellen sang the same song, but second verse, as she testified to the House today and reiterated rate increases are not imminent," said a note from Wells Fargo Advisors.
McDonald's led the Dow, gaining 3.9 percent ahead of the March 1 arrival of new chief executive Steve Easterbrook.
Apple lost 2.6 percent after a Texas jury in a federal case found the tech giant's iTunes system violated patents held by Smartflash. A US judge imposed a $533 million award on Apple, which plans to appeal.
Retail giant Target, which sells clothing and a broad slate of goods, added 0.3 percent after reporting a 3.8 percent rise in comparable sales in the fourth quarter. The company lost $2.6 billion during the period due to a $5.1 billion charge to wind down its Canadian operations.
Some petroleum-linked equities, including Chevron (+0.6 percent) and Halliburton (+1.3 percent), rose as oil prices rallied.
But airline stocks dropped as petroleum product prices went higher. United Continental lost 3.1 percent and American Airlines fell 3.5 percent.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 1.96 percent from 1.98 percent Tuesday, while the 30-year dipped to 2.57 percent from 2.59 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.