Wall Street cheers earnings

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks rallied Tuesday morning, as upbeat earnings from Apple, American Express and DuPont reassured investors after some recent disappointing quarterly reports.

The Dow Jones industrial average (Charts), and the S&P 500 (Charts) index and the Nasdaq composite (Charts) all advanced in the early going.

Technology shares ultimately boosted the broader market Monday after a tough session weighed down by worries about the economy. That positive momentum extended into Tuesday, thanks to the earnings.

After the close Monday, Apple (Charts, Fortune 500) reported sales and earnings that rose from a year ago and beat estimates. Shares jumped 6 percent Tuesday.

American Express (Charts, Fortune 500) also reported sales and earnings that topped estimates after the close Monday, sending shares higher Tuesday.

DuPont (Charts, Fortune 500) reported higher quarterly earnings Tuesday that topped estimates and lifted its 2007 profit outlook, sending shares nearly 3 percent higher.

On the downside, Texas Instruments (Charts, Fortune 500) warned that fourth-quarter revenue won't meet forecasts, sending shares lower, despite the company's strong third-quarter earnings.

And Level 3 Communications (Charts, Fortune 500) slumped 15 percent in active Nasdaq trade after reporting a wider third-quarter loss versus a year earler, that nonetheless was narrower than analysts were expecting, on an earnings-per-share basis. The seller of broadband and dial-up Internet services also cut its fiscal 2007 and 2008 outlook.

With 31 percent of the S&P 500 having reported results, earnings are currently on track to have fallen 0.1 percent from the same 2006 period, according to the latest figures from Thomson Financial. That's a blended figure, combining reported and expected earnings.

Stocks got battered last week on a mix of credit market fears and record oil prices. After such a selloff, investors were willing to dip their toes back in this week, although oil prices continued to seesaw.

U.S. light crude oil oil for December delivery rose 18 cents to $86.20, not far form an all-time high of $90.07 a barrel hit last week in electronic trading.

COMEX gold for December delivery rose $3.80 to $763.80 an ounce.

Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 4.42 percent from 4.40 percent late Monday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

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