NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A report showing weakness in the housing market, which sustained the U.S. economy during the downturn of the past year, strained but couldn't suppress Wednesday morning's early stock market gains predicated on the results of two Nasdaq Internet issues: Amazon.com and Expedia.

At 11 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq rose 9.05 points to 1,739.35, one day after falling for a fifth straight session. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 34.39 to 10,123.63, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index was 4.65 higher at 1,105.61.

New home sales fell 3.1 percent in March to an annual rate of 878,000, the government said. Economists were expecting the rate to be about 890,000.

"That seems to be the latest reason to sell," said David Briggs, head of trading at Federated Investors.

Briggs cited other reasons including rising oil prices and still-expensive prices for technology stocks. "The problem with the Nasdaq is a valuation issue," Briggs said. "We need earnings to recover and they have, but not fast enough to justify valuations."

Internet retailer Amazon.com (AMZN: up $2.04 to $16.10, Research, Estimates) lost less money in the first quarter than analysts expected as revenue jumped 21 percent. Looking forward, Amazon said it expects second quarter sales to top forecasts.

Expedia (EXPE: up $6.38 to $77.13, Research, Estimates) also upped its guidance after the online travel service reported quarterly profit that topped forecasts. And fiscal second-quarter profit at Qualcomm (QCOM: down $0.25 to $32.00, Research, Estimates), which makes wireless technology for cell phones, matched forecasts of 20 cents a share.

More stocks rose than fell. On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues topped declining ones 7-to-4 as 387 million shares traded. Nasdaq winners edged losers 9-to-7 as 614 million shares changed hands.

Overseas, Asia's stock markets were mixed while Europe's edged higher. Treasury securities rose. The dollar slipped against the euro and yen.

The upbeat news from Amazon, Qualcomm and Expedient counters a string of warnings that have pushed stocks lower this week.

Two telecoms, WorldCom (WCOM: up $0.02 to $3.43, Research, Estimates) and Qualcomm (QCOM: down $0.25 to $32.00, Research, Estimates), both cut sales forecasts, pushing back hopes for a recovery in communications spending.

"I think we will bounce after a down couple of days," Alan Kral, portfolio manager at Trevor, Stewart, Jacobsen, told CNNfn's Before Hours.

Separate economic data showed that orders for durable goods fell 0.6 percent in March from a revised 2.7 percent gain in February, the government said. Last month's drop surprised analysts, but it contained a quirk. The Commerce Department excluded chipmakers from the survey after saying several large ones didn't participate.

AT&T's (T: up $0.14 to $13.99, Research, Estimates) first quarter profit topped forecasts of 4 cents a share when the No.1 long-distance provider came in with 6 cents a share earnings. Looking forward, AT&T cut profit guidance.

Overall March-quarter profits are expected to post their fifth straight quarterly decline once all the reports are in. The steady stream of data has done little to bring investors back into the market. The Nasdaq began the session down 11.3 percent on the year while the Dow industrials clung to a slight gain