Dow makes it 8 in a row

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks struggled for direction Tuesday, as investors held back ahead of the start of the quarterly earnings reporting period, but the Dow eked out gains for the eighth session in a row, its longest up streak since 2003.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 4.71 to 12,573.85, Charts) added a couple of points. The broader S&P 500 (up 3.78 to 1,448.39, Charts) index and the Nasdaq (Charts) composite both added about 0.3 percent.

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Treasury prices rose, lowering the corresponding yields. The dollar fell versus other major currencies. Oil and gold prices climbed.

After the close, Dow component Alcoa (Charts) reported higher quarterly earnings and revenue that topped estimates, jump starting the earnings period on a positive note. Shares gained more than 1.5 percent in extended-hours trading.

Other marquee names due to report results this week include General Electric (Charts) and Genentech (Charts), although the earnings reports don't really accelerate until later in the month.

Alcoa said results were helped by higher metal prices, important for investors amid worries about the impact of slowing global growth.

After 14 straight quarters of double-digit percentage growth, earnings are expected to slow to a single-digit pace this quarter, according to tracker Thomson Financial.

The weaker growth reflects difficult comparisons versus a year earlier as well as the impact from the slowing economy and housing market. In addition, the energy sector is expected to see slower earnings growth, after leading the charge for several years.

Short term, the market is likely to meander as investors weigh a variety of influences, said Jim Melcher, president at Balestra Capital.

"You've basically got a random market here, with a lot of cross currents," Melcher said. "Everyone's kind of waiting to see what will happen, with subprime, with earnings, with the direction of the economy."

In addition to oil prices and the start of earnings, investors also kept an eye on comments from Fed officials, ahead of the release Wednesday of the minutes from the March policy meeting.

The minutes are expected to show the Fed at that time thought the economy was moderating at a reasonable pace and that inflation remained a problem.

However, the central bank's view of the economy may have weakened a bit since the late March meeting, as was indicated by Chairman Ben Bernanke in his Congressional testimony earlier this month.

Early Tuesday, Fed Governor Frederic Mishkin said that while the Fed has done a good job of anchoring U.S. inflation, current levels are too high and he would not be opposed to raising interest rates, if necessary. Mishkin is a voting member of the 2007 policy-setting committee.

Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, speaking in the afternoon, said that while U.S. economic growth is in a slowdown, it should pick up later this year. He also said that inflation is low, but could be lower. Fisher is not a voting member of the Fed's policy-setting committee in 2007.

Fed President Charles Plosser speaks later Tuesday. Plosser is also not a voting member of the Fed's policy-setting committee this year.

Among stock movers Tuesday, Seagate Technology (down $1.46 to $22.00, Charts) slumped over 6 percent and topped the New York Stock Exchange's most-active list after the disk drive maker said late Monday that revenue and profit margins in its most-recent quarter will miss forecasts.

That dragged on Dow component Hewlett-Packard (down $0.62 to $40.72, Charts), as Seagate is an HP supplier.

Dow stock Intel (up $0.58 to $20.68, Charts) continued to rise one session after rival Advanced Micro Devices (down $0.08 to $13.27, Charts) announced a restructuring and warned first-quarter revenue will miss expectations.

Applied Materials (up $0.76 to $19.41, Charts) rose on a Bank of America upgrade, Reuters reported.

Citigroup (up $0.82 to $52.40, Charts) shares jumped after it said it plans to cut 26,000 jobs, or 8 percent of its workforce, when it announces a major overhaul Wednesday. Yet, analysts speculated that such a move could hurt revenue as well. (Full story).

Home builder D.R. Horton (down $0.34 to $21.70, Charts) warned that it hasn't seen the normal start of the spring home buying season and that sales for the first three months of the year were short of forecasts. Shares slipped 1.5 percent.

Adolar (down $5.12 to $3.60, Charts) slumped 59 percent in unusually active Nasdaq trading after the company - along with partner GlaxoSmithKline (down $0.17 to $55.95, Charts) - ended studies and withdrew an application for a bowel drug after poor trial results.

Gold and silver prices rose, giving a boost to metals and mining shares, with the Amex Gold Bugs (up $4.11 to $358.11, Charts) index adding 1.2 percent.

Rising oil prices boosted energy stocks, including Exxon Mobil (up $0.77 to $77.57, Charts) and ConocoPhillips (up $0.77 to $77.57, Charts).

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers 5 to 3 on volume of 1.33 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners 8 to 7 on volume of 1.88 billion shares.

U.S. light crude oil for May delivery rose 38 cents to settle at $61.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after slumping 4 percent Monday on fund selling and relief about the developments in Iran.

COMEX gold for June delivery added $4.60 to settle at $681.50 an ounce.

Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 4.72 percent from 4.75 percent late Monday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar fell versus the euro and the yen.

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