NEW YORK, Jan 31 — Wall Street stocks were mixed early today following an uneven batch of earnings as investors eyed ongoing trade talks between the US and China.

About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5 per cent at 24,822.22.

The broad-based S&P 500 edged up 0.1 per cent to 2,684.78, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.8 per cent to 7,239.89.

President Donald Trump said on Twitter that trade talks with China in Washington were "going well,” but that a final deal would await a meeting between him and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping "in the near future.”

Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare characterized the statement as ambiguous, saying, "it’s neither a good nor bad revelation from the president, but it just keeps the market guessing about this important issue.”

In earnings news, Facebook surged 11.3 per cent after reporting a record quarterly profit of US$6.9 billion as it boosted its global user base despite scandals that have dented the leading social network’s image.

But Microsoft dropped 1.8 per cent after it reported revenues of US$32.5 billion, a bit below expectations.

Among other companies reporting results, General Electric jumped 9.4 per cent, UPS gained 5.7 per cent and Visa shed 2.5 per cent. — AFP