U.S. stocks closed lower Wednesday as investors took in corporate earnings. In international economic news, Japan's annual export growth slowed for the third straight month in September, raising questions as to whether or not the Bank of Japan will go further into its qualitative and quantitative easing program. The data prodded up the Nikkei 225, which closed up nearly 2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite tumbled 3.47 percent. Stocks in Europe ended mixed with the pan-European STOXX 600 closing flat and the German DAX ending higher in anticipation of Thursday's European Central Bank meeting. The dollar traded slightly higher against major world currencies. Light sweet crude oil for December delivery lost 2.4 percent to $45.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while gold futures dropped $10.40 to $1,167.10 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 7, or 0.04 percent, to 17,207. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index also declined 7, or 0.35 percent, to 2,023. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index lost 33, or 0.68 percent, to 4,847.
