U.S. stocks closed mixed on Wednesday as investors digested a batch of corporate earnings reports and key economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 88.69 points, or 0.34 percent, to 25,733.60. The S&P 500 decreased 1.14 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,861.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 29.92 points, or 0.38 percent, to 7,889.10.

U.S. department store retailer Target released quarterly earnings results on Wednesday that topped Wall Street's expectations. Its adjusted earnings per share reached 1.47 U.S. dollars for the second quarter while its revenue stood at 17.78 billion dollars.

Shares of Target surged on Wednesday, closing 3.21 percent higher at 85.94 dollars apiece.

On the economic front, existing home sales subsided for the fourth straight month in July to their slowest pace in over two years, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Total existing home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, fell 0.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.34 million units last month, the association said on Wednesday.

The Fed's annual economic symposium that will start later this week in Jackson Hole in the U.S. state of Wyoming is also in focus.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to deliver a speech on Friday, and the summit will be themed around the idea of changing market structure and the implications for monetary policy going forward.