NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Tech stocks rose early Wednesday, as upbeat earnings from Intel and others tempered worries about a surprisingly strong inflation indicator.

The tech-laden Nasdaq composite (up 9.69 to 1,942.05, Charts) was modestly higher in the early going, while the Dow Jones industrial average (down 8.20 to 10,119.21, Charts) was barely up and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (up 0.01 to 1,152.79, Charts) index erased an early gain.

After last week's brutal selloff, investors have been easing back into stocks this week, taking a cue from the nearly 150 members of the S&P 500 that are reporting results this week.

Intel reported higher-than-expected first-quarter earnings and sales late Tuesday, and also issued a second-quarter sales forecast that was in line with expectations.

It was a relief for a tech sector that was shaken a week earlier by IBM (down $0.02 to $75.46, Research)'s earnings miss. Intel (up $0.53 to $23.16, Research) shares gained 2.5 percent in the early going.

Also late Tuesday, Yahoo! reported improved quarterly earnings that rose from a year ago. The Internet leader also boosted its guidance for the current quarter and fiscal year. Yahoo! (up $1.64 to $34.86, Research) shares popped in the early going.

Dow components Caterpillar (up $4.60 to $89.55, Research) and JP Morgan Chase (unchanged at $34.95, Research) also reported strong quarters early Wednesday.

But tempering the gains was the inflation report and a rise in oil prices.

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.6 percent in March after climbing 0.4 percent in February. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected an increase of 0.5 percent.

More significantly, the so-called "core" CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, grew 0.4 percent after an advance of 0.3 percent in February. Economists thought it would be up by 0.2 percent in the month.

U.S. light crude oil for May delivery added 41 cents to trade at $52.70 a barrel in electronic trading.

Treasury prices slumped, raising the 10-year note yield to 4.26 percent from 4.19 percent late Tuesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar rose versus the euro and the yen.

COMEX gold lost 40 cents to trade at $434 an ounce.

In global trade, Asian-Pacific stocks ended higher and European shares were mixed at midday.