US MARKET

Stocks are on opposite sides of the unchanged line in mid-morning trading on Wednesday, as traders are digesting a mixed bag of quarterly results. The lack of conviction also comes ahead of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke this afternoon.

Bernanke will testify before the Senate Banking Committee at 2:00 p.m. ET, when he is set to offer his address on semi-annual monetary policy. Traders will focus on Bernanke's assessment and prescription for the health of the economy, which is showing mixed signals especially after the partial withdrawal of stimulus.

On the earnings front today, financial services firm Morgan Stanley (MS) reported second-quarter net income of $1.09 per share compared to a net loss of $1.10 per share in the year-ago period. Excluding income from discontinued operation, the firm reported net income of $0.80 per share.

Analysts expected Morgan Stanley to report earnings of $0.46 per share for the period. The company also reported net revenues for the period of $8.0 billion, above the $7.93 billion projected by Wall Street analysts for the quarter.

Also after the close yesterday, internet search engine Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) said that its second-quarter profit increased 51 percent from last year, boosted by significant growth in display advertising revenue, higher margins, and lower operating expenses.

The major averages have seen some upside in recent trading but currently remain mixed. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is down 6.97 points or 0.3 percent at 2,215.52, while the Dow is up 10.45 points or 0.1 percent at 10,240.41 and the S&P 500 is up 0.23 points or less than 0.1 percent at 1,083.71.

CANADIAN, COMMODITIES MARKET

Canadian stocks are likely to open higher Wednesday amid recovery in commodities prices and positive cues from global equity markets. With a light economic calendar, traders might focus on earnings reports from both sides of the border.

Yesterday after the markets closed, Apple Inc. reported better than expected quarterly results. Elsewhere, most Asian markets ended higher Wednesday as investors cheered Apple's strong earnings. Also, optimism that China may roll back policy tightening measures later this year aided traders' sentiment.

Stocks in Europe were on their track to snap their 5-day losing streak. Encouraging earnings reports from Fiat SpA and Accor SA bolstered investor confidence. British oil firm BP plc, rose over 3% after it said it will sell properties in the U.S., Canada and Egypt to Apache Corp. for $7 billion. Mining giant BHP Billiton gained in London after announcing increased fourth quarter output.

On Tuesday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index added 86.41 points or 0.75% to settle at its day high of 11,629.88, recovering around 2% from intraday low of 11,446.01.

The price of crude oil moved up ahead of the official weekly inventories data from the EIA. Crude for September delivery, the new front month contract, was up $0.53 to $78.11 a barrel.

The price of gold was trading almost flat amid a falling euro. Gold for August delivery edged down $0.20 to $1,191.50 an ounce.

The euro slipped against most majors ahead of the European Union banks' stress tests, due out on Friday. A total of 91 banks across Europe are being tested to assess whether they will be able to withstand future shocks in the financial sector. The results of the stress test will be published on July 23.

ASIA MARKETS

The major markets in Asia, except the Japanese, Singapore and Taiwanese markets, continued their northward march and ended in positive territory on Wednesday, taking cues from Wall Street where the major averages ended in positive territory in the previous session on optimism about earnings despite weak economic reports and mixed earnings from technology stocks. Positive results from Apple Inc. (AAPL), which reported results after the markets closed on Wall Street, lifted market sentiment. Japanese market continued its decline on concerns about stronger yen. Caution ahead of Ben Bernanke's testimony to the Congress and slew of earnings kept traders in cautious mode awaiting more cues on global economic recovery.

In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index fell 21.63 points, or 0.2%, to 9279, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues was down 2.91 points, or 0.4%, to 829.

EUROPEAN MARKETS

Earnings optimism is helping sentiment in Europe, as the averages in the region are advancing over 1% each following the release of positive earnings report by Apple and also some domestic companies, including Fiat. The markets had closed lower in each of the past five sessions.

The French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are rising 2 and 1.29%, respectively, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is advancing 1.75%.