Stocks mixed as investors shrug off weak GDP

Wall Street stocks opened mixed Wednesday, as investors shrugged off the worst quarterly reading on economic growth since the end of 2012, opting to blame the weak growth on bad winter weather.

In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was up about 13 points, or 0.1%, while the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index was basically unchanged, The Nasdaq composite was down 0.2%.

The economy grew far more slowly in the first quarter as extreme winter weather helped crimp activity, but Wall Street opted to treat it as old news and a temporary blip.

The nation's gross domestic product, or GDP, in the first three months of 2014 increased at just an 0.1% annual pace, down from 2.6% in the fourth quarter, the government said Wednesday. That's the weakest pace since the fourth quarter of 2012.

Later, the Federal Reserve will conclude its two-day monetary policy meeting. An announcement on its stimulus program is expected.

European shares traded near the flat line but with a downward bias. Inflation in the eurozone rose less than expected.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.1%to close at 14,304.11. The Bank of Japan avoided changes to its monetary policy despite concern that a consumption tax hike would sap growth.

In notable corporate news: French engineering company Alstom said it will decide by the end of May whether to accept a $17 billion offer from General Electric for its energy business.

Twitter's shares were down nearly 10% to $38.39 in early trading, and nearly 50% off its all-time high, after the micro-blogging company revealed that its user growth has stalled.

Some of the world's largest banks may be about to see criminal charges from federal prosecutors, according to a report in The New York Times. The report says that prosecutors are seeking to counter the perception that Wall Street's big banks are "too large to jail."

Oil futures fell 1% to stay just above the $100 level.

The International Monetary Fund slashed its gro! wth forecast for Russia to 0.2% from 1.3% for 2014 in the wake of the sanctions imposed on Ukraine for its actions in Crimea. The IMF also said that the sanctions were working and that investment in Russia is under threat.

Contributing: Paul Davidson, the Associated Press.