Stocks edge up pre-Bernanke

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks opened higher Thursday as investors await Congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.2 percent. The Nasdaq composite index was 0.4 percent higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 0.2 percent.

Fourth-quarter results from Merrill Lynch (MER, Fortune 500) showed an $11.5 billion writedown due to the brokerage's bad bets on subprime mortgages, and resulted in about a $10 billion loss from continuing operations which was far worse than forecasts.

The results could further roil the financial sector, which has been pummeled by the subprime crisis. Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) took a massive $18.1 billion write-down in its fourth quarter while JP Morgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) reported a $1.3 billion hit.

But stocks could get a lift from much-anticipated comments by Bernanke due to start at 10 a.m. ET. The central bank chief is due to testify before the House Budget Committee and is widely expected to express support for the concept of a stimulus package to spur the weakening economy.

His remarks come a week after he said the central bank was "ready to take substantive additional action" to avoid a recession, which was taken a signal that deeper rate cuts were on the horizon.