NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Stocks started the day higher Monday after finishing the previous week on an upbeat note.
Within the first 10 minutes of trading, the Nasdaq composite (Charts), the Standard & Poor's 500 index (Charts) and the Dow Jones industrial average (Charts) posted solid gains.
With several weeks of consolidation behind them and no economic reports out on Monday, investors focused on the day's earnings reports and other corporate news.
Goodyear (GT: Research, Estimates), the world's No. 1 tire maker, announced Sunday it has developed several new synthetic rubber products that could cut its cost of using natural rubber by 15 percent within three years.
House builder Hovnanian Enterprises (HOV: Research, Estimates) said Monday it expects to record a third-quarter charge of $8.7 million due to its May 1 redemption of $150 million of senior notes due 2009.
Asian stocks ended mixed on Monday as Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei pulled back 0.5 percent. European stocks edged higher in midday trading there.
Treasury prices slipped, with the 10-year note losing 25/32 of a point to yield 3.83 percent, unchanged from late Friday. In the currency market, the dollar moved fell against the yen and was little changed against the euro.
Brent crude oil futures fell 34 cents to $31.65 a barrel in London. COMEX gold slipped 80 cents to $422.40 an ounce.
--from staff and wire reports
|
