NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were headed for a mixed open Wednesday, as investors mulled earnings results from financial heavyweights Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, and reacted to reports on the housing market.
Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) and S&P 500 (SPX) futures were lower ahead of the opening bell, while Nasdaq (COMP) futures were slightly higher. Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance.
On Tuesday, stocks closed higher as shares of Boeing and other industrial names rose -- offsetting weakness from Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) and Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500). The tech giant didn't report their blowout quarterly earnings until after the close.
"The focus remains on high quality earnings," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners.
Investors will also be paying close attention to Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to the United States as the White House plays host Wednesday to both Hu and a group of American and Chinese business leaders.
"I don't believe the visit will produce any real changes that the U.S. is looking for in terms of a re-evaluation of the yuan, so people will be looking carefully at what agreements can be made in terms of American companies exploring bigger opportunities in China," Cardillo said.
Companies: Before the opening bell Wednesday, Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) posted lower fourth-quarter earnings of $2.39 billion, or $3.79 per share, on revenue of $8.64 billion.
While earnings slightly beat expectations, revenue missed. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected Goldman to report earnings per share of $3.76 on revenue of $9 billion. Shares of the bank edged slipped more than 2% in pre-market trading.
Meanwhile, Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) logged quarterly earnings of 61 cents per share on revenue of $21.5 billion -- which was in line with forecasts. Shares of the bank were down about 2% following the report.
"Earnings continue to come in quite strongly, with most companies beating both top and bottom line expectations," Cardillo said. "The good news last night from IBM and Apple should help out the Nasdaq today."
Apple reported its best quarter ever late Tuesday. The company's revenue of $26.7 billion was driven by holiday iPad and iPhone sales, which were much better than forecast. The tech giant's profit of $6 billion also set a new record. Apple sold 7.3 million iPads in the quarter -- easily surpassing the expectations of nearly every Wall Street analyst.
Shares of Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) perked up 2% in pre-market trading Wednesday, after closing down 2% Tuesday amid concerns about Steve Jobs' medical leave of absence.
Also after the bell Tuesday, IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) reported net income of $5.3 billion -- or $4.18 per share -- for the fourth quarter. That's up from $4.8 billion, or $3.59 per share, a year ago. Analysts had predicted earnings of $4.08 per share. Shares of IBM rose 2.5% before the opening bell.
Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500) announced early Wednesday that it will begin accepting mobile payment in all of its U.S. stores, allowing customers to use select smartphones to make purchases. Shares of the company rose more than 1% in pre-market trading.
Economy: Government figures for December showed a steep decline in housing starts, but a surprisingly dramatic increase in building permits.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that an annual rate of 529,000 new homes were started in December, a decrease from 555,000 from November. Housing starts fell short of economists' expectations.
Building permits jumped 16.7% to an annual rate of 635,000 in December, compared to 544,000 the prior month. Economists had forecasted a rate of 560,000 permits, according to Briefing.com consensus.
World markets: European stocks were lower in morning trading. Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.3%, the DAX in Germany was barely below breakeven and France's CAC 40 edged down 0.2%.
Asian markets ended the session higher. The Shanghai Composite rallied 1.8%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 1.1% and Japan's Nikkei rose 0.4%.
Currencies and commodities: The dollar fell against the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound.
Oil for February delivery gained 62 cents to $92.93 a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery rose $10 to $1,367.80 an ounce.
Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 3.39% from 3.36% late Tuesday. 
| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 3.80% | 3.88% | |
| 15 yr fixed | 3.20% | 3.23% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 3.84% | 3.88% | |
| 30 yr refi | 3.82% | 3.93% | |
| 15 yr refi | 3.20% | 3.23% |
Today's featured rates:
| Index | Last | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 32,627.97 | -234.33 | -0.71% |
| Nasdaq | 13,215.24 | 99.07 | 0.76% |
| S&P 500 | 3,913.10 | -2.36 | -0.06% |
| Treasuries | 1.73 | 0.00 | 0.12% |
| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford Motor Co | 8.29 | 0.05 | 0.61% |
| Advanced Micro Devic... | 54.59 | 0.70 | 1.30% |
| Cisco Systems Inc | 47.49 | -2.44 | -4.89% |
| General Electric Co | 13.00 | -0.16 | -1.22% |
| Kraft Heinz Co | 27.84 | -2.20 | -7.32% |
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