Shares rally on corporate results; bond prices fall

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity markets edged higher on Wednesday, lifted by solid corporate results and benign U.S. inflation data that may give the Federal Reserve enough leeway to keep interest rates lower for longer, but U.S. stocks faltered as some big corporate names sold off following their results.

European stock gains were largely driven by earnings. In addition, GlaxoSmithKline shares jumped 2.6 percent in London after it said it expects a vaccine against Ebola to be ready later this year.

U.S. tech names were also among the biggest gainers, after both Yahoo Inc and Broadcom beat revenue expectations late Tuesday.

But Wall Street headed lower as Boeing and Biogen sold off after their results disappointed investors.

Biogen Idec was the biggest drag on the S&P 500, falling 6.5 percent after the company reported sales of its big-selling new multiple sclerosis drug, Tecfidera, that fell short of Wall Street's lofty expectations.

Boeing Co lost 3.8 percent as analysts raised concern about the costs of its 787 Dreamliner jet.

"The season has been mixed, and the global economy is a concern for big multinational companies, but the fact that the market can shake off some bad reports is indicative of what good footing it is on right now," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co in Nashville.

MSCI's all-country world stock index <.MIWD00000PUS> pared some gains, rising 0.18 percent, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> closed up 0.73 percent at 1,308.73.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 44.47 points, or 0.27 percent, to 16,570.34. The S&P 500 <.SPX> slid 1.74 points, or 0.09 percent, to 1,939.54, and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> lost 11.23 points, or 0.25 percent, to 4,408.25.

Boeing Co dipped 3.4 percent, despite reporting higher-than-expected earnings and raising its outlook, on concerns that the costs of its 787 Dreamliner were creeping higher.

But earnings overall remained solid. So far in Europe, 9 percent of STOXX 600 <.STOXX> companies have reported results, of which 65 percent have met or beaten profit forecasts, according to Thomson Reuters. In the United States, of the 135 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results, 68.9 percent beat expectations, higher than the rate over the previous four quarters, Thomson Reuters data show.

U.S. Treasuries prices fell as data showed a mild rebound in domestic consumer prices in September. The reading reduced some bets the Federal Reserve might postpone possible plans to raise interest rates in 2015.

The U.S. Labor Department said CPI rose 0.1 percent last month as increasing food and shelter costs offset a broad decline in energy prices.

This less dire view on inflation spurred selling in Treasuries, with yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury rising to their highest in a week near 2.25 percent. The 10-year note was last down 8/32 in price to yield 2.2376 percent.

Crude prices retreated on data on inventories. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said crude stocks rose by 7.11 million barrels, more than double the 2.7 million barrel increase analysts had expected. [EIA/S]

Brent crude was last 1 cent higher at $86.23 a barrel. U.S. crude fell 65 cents to $81.84.

The U.S. dollar extended broad-based gains. The U.S. inflation data coupled with earlier concerns over European banks sent the greenback to one-week highs against the euro.

The euro was down 0.42 percent at $1.2660, after dropping to a one-week low of $1.2657. The dollar traded at 107.28 yen, a gain of 0.29 percent .

(Additional reporting by Charles Mikolajczak in New York, reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Leslie Adler)

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