By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch , Ryan Vlastelica

Boeing rallies after strong quarter and outlook

U.S. stocks were little changed on Wednesday, as a sharp decline in Apple, the largest U.S. company by market cap, was offset by a sharp rebound in the price of crude oil.

Major indexes had opened broadly lower, with all but one of the S&P 500's primary sectors negative at one point. Apple led the decline, and while it continued to see its biggest one-day drop since June, the broader market recovered alongside energy stocks. The S&P energy sector had fallen as much as 0.9% Wednesday morning, though it subsequently turned higher, trading up 0.6% as one of the biggest advancers of the day.

The recovery came after the Energy Information Administration reported that domestic crude supplies unexpectedly fell in the latest week (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-turn-higher-after-eia-reports-unexpected-600000-million-barrel-decline-in-us-crude-supply-2016-10-26), a positive sign for a market that continues to struggle with oversupply. Crude, which had dropped about 2% at its lows of the session, erased its decline.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 60 points, or 0.3%, to 18,278, while the S&P 500 rose 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,145. The Nasdaq Composite Index , which is heavily weighted toward technology names, remained down 3.5 points, or 0.1%, at 5,280.

The day was the latest session where overall market activity, in terms of the swings of the major indexes, was extremely quiet.

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-stock-market-has-reached-a-historic-level-of-quiet-2016-10-26)See:The stock market has reached a historic level of quiet (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-stock-market-has-reached-a-historic-level-of-quiet-2016-10-26)

Apple Inc.(AAPL) sank 2.6% a day after the iPhone maker posted quarterly earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-revenue-dips-but-rebound-expected-2016-10-25) that slightly beat expectations and revenue that was just shy of forecasts. Investors also may have been disappointed that the tech giant's projections for the current quarter weren't more bullish. The day's decline was on track to be Apple's biggest one-day drop since April.

The stock's fall comes in the wake of a rally that lifted the share price nearly 15% between early September and Tuesday.

"The quarter wasn't bad to me, but if you're going to report a quarter after a rise of this much in this short of time, then it has to be a powerful one. Instead, this was just lukewarm," said Michael Binger, senior portfolio manager at Gradient Investments LLC, which counts Apple as a holding.

"We continue to like the stock, and think the next 12 months will see a big replacement cycle for the iPhone."

Read:Apple forecast disappoints, but shares are still a bargain, analysts say (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-forecast-disappoints-but-shares-are-still-attractive-analysts-say-2016-10-26)

See also:This key Nasdaq gauge is topping out and Apple isn't helping (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-key-nasdaq-gauge-is-peaking-as-apple-starts-to-look-mushy-2016-10-26)

Apple's results overshadowed better-than-expected results (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/boeings-stock-surges-after-profit-rises-well-above-expectations-2016-10-26) from Boeing Co.(BA), which rose 1.4% after also raising its outlook. Coca-Cola Co.(KO)said profit and revenue fell less than expected in the latest quarter (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cokes-profit-and-revenue-decline-2016-10-26), sending shares up 0.5% to $42.75. All three companies are Dow components.

Read:5 difficult things OPEC must do if it really wants an oil output cap (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-things-opec-needs-to-do-to-reach-an-oil-output-pact-2016-10-24)

The market weakness on Wednesday comes after a downbeat day on Tuesday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-point-to-gains-as-apple-set-to-take-the-spotlight-2016-10-25) when worries about a string of lackluster earnings and a drop in consumer sentiment sent major indexes lower.

Corporate news: Among other earnings, Southwest Airlines Co.(LUV) slumped 11.5% after the carrier reported a drop in third-quarter profit and revenue (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/southwest-airlines-shares-climb-after-earnings-beat-2016-10-26). Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.(CMG) dropped 8% after the burrito chain late Tuesday reported a 95% slump in third-quarter profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chipotle-gives-optimist-outlook-profit-down-95-2016-10-25).

Tesla Motors Inc.(TSLA) and Texas Instruments Inc.(TXN) are due to report after the market close.

Read:Tesla third-quarter earnings--what to expect (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tesla-third-quarter-earnings-what-to-expect-2016-10-17)

On the upside, Twitter Inc.(TWTR) gained 1.3% following speculation that Walt Disney Co.(DIS) has taken renewed interest in buying the social media company (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/twitter-shares-jump-on-rumor-of-renewed-disney-interest-2016-10-25).

In the latest economic data, new home sales (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-home-sales-run-at-annual-593000-rate-in-september-as-market-grinds-slowly-higher-2016-10-26) picked up in September, but hefty downward revisions to sales in earlier months point to a market still struggling for momentum.

Investors are closely watching U.S. data, trying to gauge if the readings strengthen or weaken the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year.

The probability of a Fed hike in November is low at only 8.3%, according to the CME Group's Fed Watch tool (http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/interest-rates/countdown-to-fomc.html), which measures pricing in the Fed funds futures market. However, for December the tool is pointing to an almost 80% chance of a rate increase.

See:

Other markets: Stocks in Asia closed mostly lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/australian-wipeout-leads-asian-market-declines-2016-10-25), and Europe followed suit with all major benchmarks mired in red (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-down-for-third-straight-day-as-commodity-shares-pull-back-2016-10-26).

Metals traded mixed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-futures-at-three-week-highs-as-dollar-stocks-wobble-2016-10-26), with gold futures firming initially but now off 0.4% and silver down 0.6%.

The ICE dollar index slipped 0.2% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-struggles-to-move-higher-aussie-dollar-surges-on-inflation-2016-10-26) after touching its highest level in nearly nine months on Tuesday.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 26, 2016 11:24 ET (15:24 GMT)