The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 19.87 points (0.17 per cent) to 11,487.21 after the market open, while the Nasdaq composite dropped 23.21 points (1.02 per cent) to 2,256.32.

The broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 2.92 points (0.23 per cent) to 1,257.08.

On Monday the major indexes closed modestly lower as investors consolidated gains from last week's rally: the Dow slipped 0.25 per cent, the Nasdaq lost 0.14 per cent and the S&P 500 ended virtually flat, off 0.05 per cent.

'The market has had a good run, up 3.7 per cent since last Tuesday, in response to better-than-feared earnings results. The latest batch of results muddles the picture a bit and will provide a test of the newfound bullish sentiment', said Mr Patrick O'Hare, analyst at Briefing.com.

Before the market open, Wachovia reported a second-quarter loss of US$8.662 billion (S$11.7 billion) amid a severe hit from the US housing slump and announced plans to end its wholesale mortgage operations.

The loss amounted to US$4.20 per share, far above the average Wall Street forecast of a loss of 78 cents per share.

Wachovia said it had written off US$6.1 billion dollars 'reflecting declining market valuations and asset values'. -- AFP