NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Buying interest in International Paper helped boost the Dow Jones industrial average Tuesday as investors rewarded the company's positive earnings report, but sellers held sway on the Nasdaq as Yahoo! took a beating, amid concerns that forward revenue may wane for the Internet portal.
 Both markets rallied after a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan yielded no comments about inflation or interest rates. But gains were trimmed on the Dow, and erased on the Nasdaq, as investors shifted their attention back to earnings reports.
"Mr. Greenspan didn't say anything new but his comments were one of the reasons we saw this early spurt take the market up and wane in the afternoon," said Peter Cardillo, director of research at Westfalia Investments. "But when it's all said and done, what the market is really grasping for here is some really good earnings in technology stocks."
 The Nasdaq lost 23.91 to 3,956.38, erasing a gain of more than 1 percent earlier in the session. The Dow rose 80.61 to 10,727.19, well off session highs, while the S&P 500 advanced 5.26 to 1,480.88.
On the New York Stock Exchange, advancers outnumbered decliners 1,617 to 1,300, as more than 980 million shares changed hands. On the Nasdaq, losers topped winners 2,166 to 1,848 on volume of more than 1.7 billion shares.
In currency markets, the dollar rose against the euro and the yen. Treasury securities were mixed.
International Paper, Yahoo! attract attention
With earnings season in full swing, investors are rewarding positive reports and punishing those companies that fall short of expectations or warn of future revenue problems.
"What's going to be positive here is delivered earnings, a fairly bright outlook for the second half by corporations, and a growing comfort among investors that perhaps the tightening initiative by the Fed is coming to a close," said Joseph Battipaglia, chief investment strategist at Gruntal & Co.
Leading the Dow's rise, International Paper (IP: Research, Estimates) gained 2-15/16 to 35-3/16 after posting a second-quarter profit of 75 cents a share, a penny higher than Wall Street forecasts and well above the 24 cents the company earned a year earlier.
But investors punished the tech sector. Yahoo! (YHOO: Research, Estimates) lost 4-1/2 to close at 105-1/2; analysts have expressed concern about the company's earnings growth rate and advertising revenue, particularly from dot.com companies. After the bell, the company reported second-quarter earnings of 12 cents per share, beating Street estimates by 2 cents.
Qualcomm (QCOM: Research, Estimates) shed 1-7/8 to 53, Cisco (CSCO: Research, Estimates) fell 1 to 62-1/8, and Oracle (ORCL: Research, Estimates) dropped 1-3/16 to 72-5/16.
 In earnings pre-announcements, Aspect Communications (ASPT: Research, Estimates) shed 23-7/8 to 20 after the software provider warned late Monday that its second-quarter earnings will fall short of expectations, citing lower business levels and delays in government contracts.
Not all earnings announcements were negative. Alteon WebSystems (ATON: Research, Estimates) jumped 30-3/16 to 131-1/8 after the company, whose products include Web switches, server adapters, and traffic management software, said it reached operating profitability in its fiscal fourth quarter -- three quarters ahead of previous expectations.
 Earnings reports are due after the regular-hours close from biotech company Biogen (BGEN: Research, Estimates) and food maker Bestfoods (BFO: Research, Estimates), which recently agreed to be purchased by European consumer products leader Unilever.
Biogen fell 1/16 70, and Bestfoods rose 3/16 to 69-5/8.
Fed comments soothe investors
Comments on the state of the economy by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan yielded no surprises, letting investors breathe a sigh of relief and turn their attention back to upcoming earnings reports.
Donald Selkin, chief investment strategist at Joseph Gunnar, told CNNfn's Talking Stocks that if the Fed succeeds in slowing the economy the markets could rally. (494K WAV) (494K AIFF).
Signs of slowing economic growth helped persuade the Fed to not raise rates at its meeting late last month, and investors are looking for any signs about what might happen at the next Fed meeting in August -- and how corporate revenue might be affected.
"He is extremely optimistic on technology, its impact on productivity and the benefits it has to our economy," Bruce Steinberg, Merrill Lynch chief economist, wrote in a note to clients. "We believe Alan Greenspan does not see any burning need to further tighten policy, assuming the economy is slowing as it has been indicating so far." 
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