NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
U.S. stock markets were barely higher early Tuesday as strength in IBM and other tech issues tempered the impact of a weaker-than-expected earnings report from Merrill Lynch.
After 10 minutes of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average (up 18.51 to 10,256.73, Charts) and the Standard & Poor's 500 (up 1.95 to 1,116.30, Charts) index stood just above unchanged, and the Nasdaq composite (up 8.17 to 1,945.09, Charts) was a bit higher.
Stocks had managed an 11th hour turnaround Monday, thanks to a drop in oil prices and some short covering after struggling all session under the weight of a widespread Merrill Lynch downgrade of the chip sector.
Among early stock movers, IBM (IBM: up $1.11 to $86.06, Research, Estimates) gained after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "equal weight," saying the recent weakness in the shares was a buying opportunity and that IBM will do well regardless of how the tech environment shapes up in the future.
Qualcomm (QCOM: up $0.58 to $70.03, Research, Estimates) climbed after announcing a 2-for-1 stock split and raising its quarterly dividend by 40 percent.
Dow component Johnson & Johnson (JNJ: up $0.61 to $55.50, Research, Estimates) gained after reporting earnings of 82 cents per share, more than double what it earned a year ago and 3 cents more than expected.
The strength in the tech names and J&J seemed to help temper any disappointment about a weaker-than-expected quarterly report from Merrill Lynch (MER: down $0.17 to $51.30, Research, Estimates). The financial services firm earned $1.06 per share, up from $1.00 a year earlier, but 3 cents short of estimates. The company also said it would buy back another $2 million worth of its stock as part of its ongoing stock buyback program.
Although a few top-tier companies reported last week, this week offers a more substantial slew of big name reporters. The week's most anticipated earnings report, that of Intel (INTC: up $0.11 to $26.35, Research, Estimates), is due after the close Tuesday. Wall Street analysts expect the chip leader to have earned 27 cents per share in the last quarter, versus 14 cents a year earlier.
Treasury prices fell, pushing the 10-year note's yield up to 4.48 percent from 4.44 percent late Monday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. The dollar edged higher versus the yen and euro.
Among commodities markets, Brent crude oil futures fell 17 cents to $36.15 a barrel in London. COMEX gold fell $5.50 to $402.90 an ounce.
In global trade, Asian markets closed mixed Tuesday, and European markets rallied at midday.
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