NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - With conflicting messages on how well the war with Iraq is going, the stock market was once again on tenterhooks Wednesday morning.

Traders could take succor in continued reports of an uprising against Saddam Hussein's regime in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city. They could find cheer on how quickly U.S. coalition forces have advanced in under a week, and that Iraq's oil fields have not been set ablaze, as some feared.

For details of Tuesday's gains, click above

But reports of stiff resistance in the city of Nasiriya, and that Iraqi reinforcements are moving in to join the fight, threaten to slow the march to Baghdad. Reports that two missiles went astray, hitting a Baghdad shopping area and killing more than a dozen people, intensified anger against the United States in the Arab world. Finally, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday the war could take months -- giving rise to the notion that the war not only isn't going as quickly as the media and the market led themselves to expect, but it is also not proceeding with the speed expected by the Bush administration.

"It looks like this is taking longer than expected, no matter what the positive [spin] the military is trying to put on it," said Jim Volk, director of institutional trading at D.A. Davidson.

Straining between the differing views of the war, stocks were cued for a muddled morning heading into the opening bell.

On the economic front, durable goods orders for February dropped by 1.2 percent against a 1.5 percent decline expected by economists surveyed by Briefing.com. January orders were revised to a positive 1.9 percent from a positive 2.9 percent.

After the opening, the market will get the February report on new home sales, which are seen rising to an annual rate of 927,000 from 914,000 in January.

The stock market bounced back Tuesday from a big selloff the previous day. In particular, reports of the Basra uprising inspired buying. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.8 percent, while the Nasdaq composite index rallied 1.6 percent (see chart for details).

Asian stocks finished mixed Wednesday. Tokyo's Nikkei rose 1.4 percent on cheer over Tuesday's recovery on Wall Street. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.2 percent and South Korean stocks hugged the flatline.

European markets were showing meager gains.

Treasury prices were little changed in early trading, with the 10-year note yield at 3.96 percent.

The dollar edged up against the yen, and was little changed versus the euro.

Brent oil futures, cueing off of Rumsfeld's remarks, rallied 77 cents to $25.58 a barrel in London. Gold edged higher.