Stocks creep higherMajor gauges manage small gains as investors welcome lower oil prices, slide in Treasury bond yields.NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Falling oil prices and lower Treasury yields gave a lift to stocks Tuesday morning, helping investors overlook a weak reading on manufacturing and some discouraging corporate news ahead of key earnings due later in the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (up 9.37 to 12,565.45, Charts) gained 0.1 percent, after ending last Friday's session at an all-time high. 
The S&P 500 (up 2.00 to 1,432.73, Charts) rose 0.2 percent, after ending the previous session at its highest point in more than 6 years. The Nasdaq (up 3.31 to 2,506.13, Charts) composite also gained 0.2 percent, after ending the previous session at its highest point in nearly six years. All financial markets were closed Monday for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Last Friday, stocks rose as investors welcomed falling oil prices. Oil prices continued to slide Tuesday, with U.S. light crude oil for February delivery falling 78 cents to $52.21 a barrel in electronic trading. Prices fell after Saudi Arabia's oil minister said that OPEC production cuts were effective and there was no need for an emergency meeting of the oil cartel. Investors also took in the morning's economic news. The NY Empire State index, a regional read on manufacturing, fell to 9.1 in January from 22 the previous month. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought it would fall to 20 in the month. Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 4.76 percent from 4.77 percent late Friday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. In currency trading, the dollar rose versus the yen and slipped versus the euro. |
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