Apple earnings fell short of Wall Street's expectations as the European economy sagged and consumers held off on buying its flagship iPhone ahead of a new version expected in the fall. Apple shares fell 5.6 percent late on Tuesday while its Frankfurt-listed stock (AAPL.F) shed 6 percent on Wednesday.

Ford (F.N), the second-largest U.S. automaker, is expected to report sharply lower quarterly earnings, hurt by sliding demand in Europe. Last month, Ford said economic conditions in Europe had deteriorated sharply since the beginning of the year.

Other major companies announcing results include Visa (V.N), PepsiCo (PEP.N), Caterpillar (CAT.N), Eli Lilly (LLY.N), WellPoint (WLP.N), Boeing Co (BA.N) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY.N).

The Commerce Department releases new home sales for June at 10.00 a.m. EDT. Economists forecast a total of 370,000 annualized units, compared with 369,000 in May.

The Mortgage Bankers Association releases the Weekly Mortgage Market Index for the week ended July 20 at 1100 GMT. The index read 935.4 and the refinancing index was 5,314.4 in the previous week.

European shares inched up after early losses on Wednesday as European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said there were arguments for giving Europe's permanent rescue fund a banking license.

Wall Street stocks fell on Tuesday, hit by signs the euro zone crisis is worsening and evidence that Europe's slowdown is hurting U.S. companies, including bellwether UPS (UPS.N).

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 104.14 points, or 0.82 percent, at 12,617.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was down 12.21 points, or 0.90 percent, at 1,338.31. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was down 27.16 points, or 0.94 percent, at 2,862.99.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by John Stonestreet)

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