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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Stocks crept lower Tuesday morning as upbeat earnings from IBM and 3M failed to distract investors from the morning's surprisingly strong read on wholesale inflation.
The Dow Jones industrial average (up 60.76 to 10,348.10, Charts), the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (down 1.17 to 1,188.93, Charts) index and the Nasdaq composite (down 0.14 to 2,070.16, Charts) all lost a few points in the early going.
The Producer Price Index (PPI), a measure of inflation at the wholesale level, showed the biggest month-to-month jump in 15 years, the government reported Tuesday morning. The jump was largely related to skyrocketing energy costs, and surpassed the forecasts of Wall Street economists.
Excluding volatile food and energy costs, the so-called "core" PPI rose 0.3 percent in September, versus an unchanged reading in August. Economists thought it would rise 0.2 percent.
Investors have been sensitive to signs that the jump in energy prices is being passed on to the consumer, and the "core" seemed to play into that.
Stocks gained modestly Monday, led by blue chips, as investors welcomed General Motors' deal with its union.
Tuesday's session also brought its share of earnings reports, including a number of Dow stocks.
3M (unchanged at $72.47, Research) reported higher quarterly earnings that topped estimates on strong demand for its security and industrial products. The company also forecast a full-year profit in line with forecasts and said its board approved the repurchase of an additional $300 million of company stock through the end of January.
Shares gained 1 percent.
Johnson & Johnson reported higher quarterly earnings that beat forecasts and higher quarterly revenue that missed forecasts. The company saw strong sales of its medical devices, but weaker prescription drug sales, due to increased competition from generics.
J&J (unchanged at $63.00, Research) also modestly lifted its full-year earnings-per-share target. Shares inched higher.
IBM (unchanged at $82.59, Research) reported quarterly earnings late Monday that rose from a year earlier and topped forecasts. Additionally, revenue fell from a year earlier and missed forecasts. However, investors focused on the positive and sent shares higher Tuesday morning. Shares gained more than 2 percent.
U.S. light crude oil for November delivery fell 60 cents to $63.76 a barrel in electronic trading.
Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 4.47 percent from 4.49 percent late Monday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The dollar rose versus the euro and yen.
COMEX gold fell $2.70 to $473.90 an ounce.
In global trade, major Asian markets ended higher, with the exception of the Japanese Nikkei; European markets fell at midday.
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