NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Strong earnings from Home Depot and a jump in oil service stocks were among the factors lifting blue-chip equities Tuesday morning.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 12.74 to 11,128.06, Charts) and the Standard & Poor's 500 (up 2.19 to 1,289.43, Charts) index gained slightly. The Nasdaq composite (down 1.07 to 2,281.29, Charts) eased slightly.

Dell's disappointing outlook sent stocks moderately lower Friday, at the end of an otherwise strong week for equities.

The tone remained mixed Tuesday, as investors returned from a three-day weekend. Financial markets were closed Monday for the President's Day holiday.

The focus Tuesday turned to oil prices and the latest batch of earnings news.

U.S. light crude oil jumped $1.41 to $61.29 a barrel in electronic trading, a gain of more than two percent that set the commodity above $60 a barrel, a relevant psychological level.

While the jump in oil prices hurt overall sentiment, it also gave a big boost to the oil stocks. The Philadelphia Oil Service (Charts) sector index gained 2.5 percent.

Among other movers, Wal-Mart Stores (down $0.40 to $45.70, Research) slipped after the leading retailer issued new fiscal year earnings guidance that was short of forecasts. That overshadowed the company's otherwise strong fourth-quarter earnings. (Full story).

Fellow Dow 30 retailer Home Depot (up $0.92 to $42.78, Research) gained more than 2 percent after reporting quarterly earnings that rose from a year earlier and topped forecasts.

Treasury prices were little changed, with the yield on the 10-year note holding at 4.56 percent. In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the euro and the yen.

COMEX gold for April delivery added $3.10 to $557.70 an ounce.

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