Apple earnings surprise boosts US stocks

Apple shares rocketed 7.6 percent Wednesday after its third-quarter earnings topped expectations, lifting Wall Street stocks in opening trade.

Investors were waiting for a policy statement from the US Federal Reserve following a two-day meeting, expected at 1800 GMT. The Fed is expected to keep interest rates unchanged, but could hint at rate hikes later in the year.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 18,530.07, up 0.3 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to 2,172.33, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.6 percent to 5,141.12.

Apple reported a 27 percent drop in earnings to $7.8 billion on a sharp fall in iPhone sales. But that was better than analysts had expected, and the tech giant pointed to gains in App Store sales and the successful launch of its lower-priced iPhone SE.

Earnings were mixed overall, with Dow member Coca-Cola falling 1.5 percent on weaker international sales, and microblogging company Twitter diving 12.3 percent after reporting disappointing user growth.