U.S. stocks ended mixed Wednesday, as investors weighed slowing retail sales with a slightly positive earnings report. In world markets, European stocks ended higher, while Asian markets finished mixed, as the Nikkei in Japan fell 1 percent. In U.S. economic news, the latest data was not very encouraging as the Census Bureau reported that retail sales rose 0.1 percent in January, following a 0.5 percent rise in the previous month. Investors have focused on better-than-expected corporate earnings and signs the Federal Reserve will continue to support the economy, analysts said. The U.S. dollar rose versus the euro and the yen. Benchmark light sweet crude oil fell to $97.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and gold futures fell to $1,642.70 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 35.79, or 0.3 percent, to 13,982.91. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.9, or 0.1 percent, to 1,520.33. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 10.39, or 0.3 percent, to 3,196.88.
