NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Upbeat earnings reports from Coca-Cola and Merrill Lynch and a mild reading on inflation were among the factors boosting stocks Tuesday morning.

The Dow Jones Industrial average (up 12.24 to 10,759.60, Charts) added 0.5 percent in the early going, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (up 3.65 to 1,238.14, Charts) index rose 0.4 percent. The tech-fueled Nasdaq composite (up 12.08 to 2,049.80, Charts) gained 0.5 percent.

Stocks slumped for three straight sessions and then meandered Monday as investors considered rocketing oil prices amid escalating violence between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

These concerns didn't disappear Tuesday morning, but found some competition in the form of the earnings and economic news.

Dow components Coca-Cola, United Technologies and Johnson & Johnson all reported quarterly earnings that rose from a year earlier and beat estimates.

Coca-Cola (up $0.55 to $43.25, Charts) shares gained more than 2 percent at the open, as did those of United Technologies (up $1.49 to $59.45, Charts). J&J (down $0.05 to $60.86, Charts) shares inched lower.

Merrill Lynch (down $0.27 to $68.00, Charts) also reported quarterly earnings that rose from a year earlier and beat estimates. Shares were modestly higher at the open.

In other news, prices at the wholesale level rose more than expected in June, and more than they rose in May, according to a government report. Yet June prices excluding volatile food and energy - the report's key inflation indicator - rose in line with estimates and less than in May.

U.S. light crude oil for August delivery gained 82 cents to $76.12 a barrel in electronic trading. On Friday, oil settled at a record high of $77.03 a barrel, after hitting a trading high of $78.40.

COMEX gold for August delivery slipped $3.90 to $648 an ounce.

Treasury prices slumped, lifting the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 5.12 percent from around 5.06 percent late Monday.

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