NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks edged higher at the open Wednesday, as investors focused on upbeat corporate earnings amid mixed economic data.
The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 both gained about 0.3%, while the Nasdaq rose 0.5%.
Cisco (CSCO, Fortune 500) was among the biggest gainers on the Dow, with shares rising 8%. The tech giant reported profits and sales that beat expectations after the closing bell Tuesday.
Earlier Wednesday, the government reported retail sales fell 0.3% in October, citing a negative impact from Superstorm Sandy. It was slightly worse than the 0.2% decline forecast by economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
Meanwhile, prices at the wholesale level decreased 0.2%, according to the Producer Price Index report. They had been expected to increase by 0.1% -- led by higher energy and food prices.
Still to come, the Census Bureau will report data on business inventories for September, which are projected to have increased by 0.6%.
Then at 2 p.m. ET, the Federal Reserve will post the minutes of its policy meeting from late October.
In a speech Tuesday, Federal Reserve Governor Janet Yellen said she would support tying Fed policy to numerical targets for the unemployment rate and inflation. Fed watchers will be looking closely at the minutes Wednesday to see if support for that idea is growing within the Fed.
Overall, investors remain unwilling to place any big bets, while lawmakers try to strike a deal that would prevent the onset of sharp spending cuts and tax increases in January. President Obama plans to meet with a number of business leaders on Wednesday and congressional leaders on Friday to discuss the issue.
U.S. stocks slid to three month lows Tuesday.
Fear & Greed Index
Fiscal pressure continues to weigh on Europe, where anti-austerity strikes are planned as part of a "Day of Action and Solidarity." European markets fell Wednesday morning, as Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.6%, the DAX in Germany slid 0.4% and France's CAC 40 declined 0.4%
Meanwhile, Asian markets ended higher after paring earlier losses as investors wait for China's Communist Party to confirm its new leaders. The Shanghai Composite edged up 0.4%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong jumped 1.2%, and Japan's Nikkei ended just above breakeven.
Companies: Facebook (FB) shares rose more than 5% as more than 800 millions shares became available. Like many initial public offerings, Facebook's May 18 debut included a "lockup" agreement that requires some shareholders from selling for a certain period. On Wednesday, early employees and investors get their first chance to sell about 773 million shares, as well as another 31 million restricted stock units.
Shares of retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) shot up 28% after the company reported sales and earnings that blew past expectations, and raised its full-year earnings guidance above even the most bullish forecasts.
Staples (SPLS, Fortune 500) shares rose after the company beat the Street on third-quarter earnings but fell short on revenue.
Toyota Motor (TM) shares fell after the Japanese automaker announced Wednesday that it is recalling 2.77 million cars worldwide. The recall mainly covers certain Prius models and was prompted by a problem with the steering intermediate extension shafts, which can suffer damage if sharp turns are made at slow speeds. About 670,000 of the recalled cars were sold in the United States.
Related: Opinion: Gold bugs love fiscal cliff fears
Currencies and commodities: The dollar fell against the euro, but rose versus the British pound and the Japanese yen.
Oil for December delivery added 22 cents to $85.60 a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery fell $4.80 to $1,729.50 an ounce.
Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield higher to 1.62% from 1.59% late Tuesday. 
First Published: November 14, 2012: 9:41 AM ET
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