NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A forecast of higher-than-expected earnings for manufacturing conglomerate 3M lifted the Dow Jones industrial average in early trading Monday.

Around 10:05 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 50.26 to 9,293.52. The Nasdaq composite index lost 14.01 to 1,449.20. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 0.59 to 990.41.

3M (MMM: up $4.27 to $127.27, Research, Estimates) raised its forecast for its second-quarter, saying that it expects to see earnings per share of at least $1.33, compared with analysts' expectations of $1.25.

The Institute for Supply Management's index of manufacturing activity in June rose to 56.2 from 55.7 in May. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected the ISM number to drop to 55.5. Any reading above 50 signifies expansion in the manufacturing sector.

The government's report on construction spending showed a decline of 0.7 percent in May, compared with a revised 0.4 percent increase in April. Economists expected a 0.3 percent rise for May.

In one of the largest corporate deals in the defense industry, contractor Northrop Grumman (NOC: down $2.45 to $122.55, Research, Estimates) agreed to buy conglomerate TRW (TRW: up $0.82 to $57.80, Research, Estimates) for about $7.8 billion after protracted negotiations.

But countering the good news, Dow component and health-care products maker Johnson & Johnson (JNJ: down $0.60 to $51.66, Research, Estimates) and its partner Alkermes (ALKS: down $8.51 to $7.50, Research, Estimates) received a rejection letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on their bid to market a long-acting, injectable version of their schizophrenia treatment, Risperdal.

Treasury prices were a little higher in early trading, with the 10-year note yield down to 4.80 percent. The dollar edged lower against the euro and rose versus the yen.

Brent oil futures slipped 11 cents to $25.47 a barrel in London, where gold was sharply lower in early trading.