NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stocks proved resilient Tuesday, with strength in technology pushing the pokey broader market to a slightly higher close on the back of mixed brokerage calls and a pair of high-profile deals in the trucking and software sectors.

Tuesday also marked the start of the period of reporting quarterly results.

After the close, Alcoa (AA: up $0.10 to $25.81, Research, Estimates) became the first major company to report its results for the second quarter. The aluminum maker -- always the first Dow component to report -- said it earned 27 cents per share, 3 cents better than expected and in line with the consensus of analysts surveyed by First Call. Shares rose 3 percent in after-hours trade.

After the close of trade Wednesday, Internet bellwether Yahoo! (YHOO: down $0.17 to $35.10, Research, Estimates) and biotech Genentech (DNA: up $0.94 to $76.49, Research, Estimates) are both due to report results. Yahoo! is forecast to have earned 8 cents per share, up from 3 cents a year earlier, according to First Call, while Genentech is expected to have earned 26 cents, up from 23 cents a year earlier.

But of greater interest to earnings watchers will be General Electric's (GE: down $0.46 to $28.81, Research, Estimates) results, due Friday. The company is forecast to have earned 38 cents in the quarter, down from the 44 cents it earned a year earlier.

"I think people are anxiously awaiting the earnings reports, and what these companies have to say about demand for their business in the second half of the year," said Ned Riley, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors.

"GE's business covers a variety of areas," he added. "People will look at it as a sign for how the economy will do over the next quarter."

In addition to earnings, the lone economic report due Wednesday is the May reading on wholesale prices, forecast to show a rise of 0.2 percent after showing a decline of 0.1 percent in April, according to Briefing.com.

In other news likely to influence trade Wednesday, after the close of trade Tuesday, Microsoft (MSFT: up $0.28 to $27.70, Research, Estimates) said it will discontinue its practice of issuing stock options to employees and will instead issue stocks, starting in September. Microsoft shares were little changed in after-hours trade.

The Nasdaq composite (up 25.75 to 1746.46, Charts) added around 1.5 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average (up 6.30 to 9223.09, Charts) and the Standard & Poor's 500 (up 3.42 to 1007.84, Charts) index both closed just past unchanged after trading lower for most of the session.

In what was taken as a positive sign for corporate health, data storage maker EMC said it will buy Legato, while trucking firm Yellow said it will buy rival Roadway. A hostile takeover bid in the auto parts sector added to the merger mania.

As has been the case for the last few sessions, the Nasdaq continued to perform better than the rest of the market, with the Dow in particular struggling amid some negative brokerage notes and profit taking after Monday's rally. On Monday, stocks surged, with the Nasdaq rising to its highest level in about 14 months.

Optimism that the second half of the year will bring a healthy recovery to the economy, corporate profits, and maybe even the labor market has fueled stocks since the market bottomed March 11.

Since hitting that low, the Dow has jumped 22.6 percent, leaving it up 10.6 percent so far this year. The Nasdaq is up 35.4 percent since March 11 and 30.8 percent year-to-date. The S&P 500 has gained 25.9 percent since the rally began, and is up 14.5 percent for the year.

Though analysts speculate the rally is likely to continue in the very short term, the summer months -- which comprise most of the third quarter -- are likely to be a period of sideways movement, as investors digest the runup and weed through corporate earnings and forecasts. In particular, the next few weeks could be volatile, as they will bring the heaviest period of corporate reporting.

However, ahead of the earnings period, Tuesday's market was attuned to large deals announced in two very different sectors of the economy.

In the first one, data storage maker EMC (EMC: down $0.50 to $11.24, Research, Estimates) said it will buy business software developer Legato Systems (LGTO: up $0.81 to $9.91, Research, Estimates) in a stock deal worth $1.3 billion. Separately, EMC said it will meet or beat earnings forecasts for the second quarter. EMC's stock fell around 4.3 percent and was the NYSE's most-actively traded issue on the news, while Legato shares jumped 8.9 percent in active Nasdaq trade.

Meanwhile, trucking company Yellow (YELL: down $1.24 to $23.25, Research, Estimates) said it would buy rival Roadway (ROAD: up $16.08 to $46.10, Research, Estimates) for $966 million in a cash and stock deal. Additionally, Roadway reported quarterly earnings of 35 cents a share, better than expected and up from a year earlier. Roadway's shares rocketed 53.6 percent higher, while Yellow lost around 5 percent. The Dow Jones Transportation average rose 4.3 percent.

The merger news was helping to protect stocks from a steeper pullback Tuesday, Riley added, as it seemed to indicate that there may be some corporate optimism creeping into the market.

In addition, auto parts maker ArvinMeritor (ARM: down $0.71 to $20.29, Research, Estimates) launched a hostile takeover bid for rival Dana (DCN: up $4.18 to $16.20, Research, Estimates) for about $2.2 billion in cash, plus the assumption of another $2.2 billion in debt. In response, Dana shares rallied 34.8 percent and were among the NYSE's most-actively traded issues. ArvinMeritor shares lost 3.2 percent.

Chipmaker Broadcom (BRCM: up $0.97 to $29.52, Research, Estimates) helped boost the rest of the sector after Lehman Brothers upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "equal weight," saying the stock was compellingly valued compared with some of its competitors. Broadcom shares rose 3.4 percent.

Dow stock General Motors (GM: up $0.68 to $36.58, Research, Estimates) added 1.9 percent after the automaker opted to extend its cash rebate and interest-free loan program on most of its vehicles through the end of July. Home Depot also gained amid strength in the retail sector.

On the downside, shares of Extreme Networks (EXTR: down $1.16 to $5.01, Research, Estimates) lost 18.8 percent after the company said late Monday that its chief financial officer will resign as of the end of the summer to pursue other work. The company was among the Nasdaq's most active.

Market breadth was positive on volume that showed improvement over the last few sessions. Advancers beat decliners nine to seven on the New York Stock Exchange on volume of 1.52 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, gainers topped losers by close to two to one as 1.99 billion shares changed hands.

Treasury prices were higher, with the 10-year note yield down to 3.71 percent as its price rose 6/32 of a point. The dollar gained versus the yen and was flat versus the euro.

European markets closed mixed, and Asian stocks finished higher overnight.

NYMEX light sweet crude oil futures gained 9 cents to $30.22 a barrel. COMEX gold lost $4 to $344.40 an ounce.