NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks turned higher early Tuesday despite another selloff in overseas markets and a mixed inflation report that failed to take another Fed rate hike off the table.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 20.49 to 10,813.07, Charts) and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index (up 2.24 to 1,238.64, Charts) both rose modestly about half an hour into the session after opening lower.

The Nasdaq composite (up 9.31 to 2,100.63, Charts) rose about 0.7 percent but is still down more than 11 percent from its recent high set in April, leaving it in Wall Street calls a "correction."

A correction is considered a drop of 10 percent or more while a bear market is typically defined as a 20 percent decline.

The market's declines Monday left the 30-share Dow off 7.3 percent from its high reached May 10, but still up less than 1 percent for the year.

The Producer Price Index, a measure of prices paid at the wholesale level, rose 0.2 in May, after a 0.9 percent rise in April due to higher energy prices that month. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a 0.4 percent rise for May. (Full story))

But the so-called core PPI, which strips out often volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.3 percent, following a 0.1 percent gain in April. Economists had forecast a 0.2 percent in the more closely watched core reading.

The readings probably weren't enough to convince the Federal Reserve to pause later this month, meaning another rate increase is likely. Further reports could change that, though. (Full story)

Major markets tumbled in Asia, on rising concerns of more Fed hikes slowing the U.S. economy. Japan's Nikkei fell 4.1 percent, its biggest one-day decline in two years. Major European markets fell about two percent in midday trading as well.

Elsewhere, retail sales edged higher last month and Goldman Sachs reported higher earnings.

Sales at U.S. retail stores rose 0.1 percent in May, as expected, as strong gasoline sales outweighed declines in car, furniture and building material sales, government data showed Tuesday, after a 0.5 percent in April. (Full story)

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to speak on consumer issues at 11 a.m. ET at the Library of Congress. The chairman avoided any comments about monetary policy when speaking about banking regulation Monday evening.

Treasury prices were little changed, leaving the 10-year yield at about 4.99 percent.

The 10-year yield is now not only below the fed funds rate of 5.0 percent, but also below the 2-year Treasury, a condition known as a inverted yield curve that may be a signal of an economic slowdown.

The dollar rose against the yen and the euro.

Oil prices tumbled below $70 in early trading as Tropical Storm Alberto, the first name storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, approached the Florida coast on a course that will spare Gulf Coast oil facilities.

The July light crude futures contract for NYMEX sank $1.24 to $69.12 in electronic trading, while the July contract for Brent crude lost $1.41 to $67.52.

In corporate news, Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs (Research) reported that its earnings surged to $4.97 a share, excluding items, beating Reuters projections of $4.28 a share.

But a strong gain in earnings at rival Lehman Brothers (Research) reported Monday better-than-expected earnings but still saw its shares fall on concerns about rising rates and falling global markets.

Best Buy beat earnings projections for the first quarter with profits of 47 cents per share, driven by new store openings and strong sales of expensive items.

Luxembourg-based Tenaris (Research) agreed to acquire Maverick Tube (Research), a fellow maker of tube products for the energy industry, for $2.4 billion, about a 42 percent premium for Maverick.

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Related: What the Fed will know, and you won't, about inflation