US stocks open mixed, HP weighs on Dow

US stocks were mixed in early trade on Wednesday after plunging in the previous session amid political unrest in the Middle East.

The S&P 500 Index advanced 1.07 points, or 0.08 percent, to trade at 1,316.71 at 9:40 a.m. EDT. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 19.22 points, or 0.16 percent, to trade at 12,193.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.07 percent.

U.S. stocks plunged on Tuesday and the S&P 500 index tumbled 2.05 percent, the most since August on growing fears that Libya may descend into a civil war after Colonel Moammar Gaddafi warned that he would never give up his power and would rather die a “martyr.”

Declines from Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) weighed on Dow as the PC giant guided second quarter profit and sales below Street view. The company expects second quarter adjusted earnings of $1.19 to $1.21 per share on revenue of $31.4 billion to $31.6 billion, while analysts’ expected $1.25 per share on revenue of $32.59 billion. Shares plunged10.82 percent to $43.00 in early trading.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares declined 2.87 percent after the company stock was downgraded to “underperform” rating from “hold” rating at Needham.

Shares of Duncan Energy Partners LP (NYSE:DEP) climbed 23.28 percent after receiving a takeover offer from Enterprise Products Partners LP.

On the economic front, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) is due to report the sales of previously occupied homes after the opening bell. Economists are forecasting that existing home sales in January may slightly decline to 5.23 million from 5.28 million in December.

The euro advanced 0.52 percent to 1.3722 against the dollar and the yen gained 0.06 percent against the greenback.

Crude oil futures gained 1.31 percent to $96.67/barrel and gold futures rose 0.12 percent.

European stock markets are currently trading lower with FTSE 100 down by 51.12 points, DAX30 down by 67.71 points and CAC 40 down by 17.21 points.