NEW YORK (AP) — Major U.S. stock indexes are mostly lower Tuesday as big companies turned in a mixed batch of earnings results.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 73 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,961 as of 3 p.m. Eastern. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell two points, less than 0.1 percent, to 2,099, while the Nasdaq composite gained 24 points, or 0.5 percent, to 5,018.

TAKING IT ALL IN: "It seems the market is in a holding pattern as investors are waiting to see just how much the dollar impacts corporate earnings," said Russell Price, Ameriprise Financial's senior economist. "So far, things are a bit better than expected, but we'll see how it plays out."

RESULTS: DuPont, the chemical giant, said the rising dollar hit its results in the first quarter as earnings and sales shrunk. The chemical giant also lowered its forecast for full-year profits, and its stock fell $2.15, or 3 percent, to $70.70.

WEAKNESS IN STRENGTH: The strong dollar has been a drag on corporate profits in two ways: It makes goods produced in the U.S. more expensive to foreign customers, and it diminishes the value of revenue collected in foreign currencies when U.S. corporations bring the money home. The rising dollar is a key reason analysts expect first-quarter corporate earnings will fall 2.4 percent, according to S&P Capital IQ.

CLEANING UP: Kimberly-Clark jumped 4 percent after the maker of Huggies diapers and paper products reported income and revenue that easily beat analysts' forecasts. Its stock surged $4.32 to $111.93.

GENERIC DEALS: Teva Pharmaceuticals proposed buying Mylan NV, another maker of generic drugs, for more than $40 billion in cash and stock. The offer depends on Mylan dropping its proposed acquisition of yet another drugmaker, Perrigo. Mylan's stock jumped $6.19, or 9 percent, to $74.23. Teva's rose 84 cents, or 1 percent, to $64.10.

LEAN HOGS: Harley-Davidson turned in quarterly sales that fell short of analysts' targets, and the motorcycle maker also cut its full-year forecast for shipments, blaming price cuts by its rivals. The company's stock fell $5.26, or 9 percent, to $56.50.

OVER THERE: Major markets in Europe continued their recent climb. Germany's DAX finished with a gain of 0.4 percent, while France's CAC-40 inched up 0.1 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.2 percent.

HK BOUNCE: Hong Kong stocks rebounded as investors shook off pessimism over mainland China's regulatory changes for investors piling into the Hong Kong market. Over the weekend, a regulator said that new measures to encourage short-selling were not meant as a crackdown.

ASIA'S DAY: Hong Kong's Hang Seng led a surge in Asian markets, jumping 2.8 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index in mainland China added 1.8 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.4 percent, while South Korea's Kospi lost 0.1 percent.

METALS: Gold rose $9.40 to settle at $1,203.10 an ounce, while silver rose 12 cents to $16.01 an ounce. Copper slipped 3 cents to $2.70 a pound.

BONDS, CURRENCIES: U.S. government bond prices fell, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note up to 1.92 percent. The euro rose to $1.0753 from $1.0741. The dollar rose to 119.59 yen from 119.31 yen.

FOSSIL FUELS: The price of U.S. crude oil fell $1.12 to close at $55.26 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, lost $1.37 to close at $62.08 a barrel in London.

In other futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange:

— Wholesale gasoline fell 4.3 cents to close at $1.888 a gallon.

— Heating oil fell 2.4 cents to close at $1.853 a gallon.

— Natural gas rose 3.9 cents to close at $2.575 per 1,000 cubic feet.

___