U.S. Stocks Little Changed

By Saumya Vaishampayan and Dan Strumpf 

U.S. stocks were little changed early Monday following a batch of better-than-expected earnings from companies including Morgan Stanley and Halliburton Co.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 11 points, or 0.1%, to 18097 shortly after the opening bell. The S&P 500 index was near flat at 2126. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained four points, or 0.1%, to 5214 and briefly touched a new intraday high of 5223.45.

Investors turned their attention to a stream of corporate earnings reports from several large companies. Shares of Morgan Stanley gave up early gains, declining 0.1%, after the bank said second-quarter profit slipped to $1.81 billion from $1.9 billion a year ago. Per-share earnings beat expectations.

Halliburton said second-quarter earnings plunged 93% as revenue slumped on soft demand. Still, shares of the oil-services giant rose 1.5% as per-share earnings and revenue beat expectations.

Shares of Hasbro Inc. jumped 5.8% after the company r eported better-than-expected profit and revenue in its second quarter.

"Last week, we had a combination of bank earnings and a celebration that Greece was in the rearview mirror" driving stock gains, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities. "We've moved beyond that. This week, we get reports from a much broader swath of corporate America and that will give us a better handle on just how strong the second quarter was," he added.

Investors have been bracing for a weak quarterly earnings season. Including results from 62 companies in the S&P 500, second-quarter earnings are on track to slip 3.6% from a year ago. That is slightly better than the 4.5% decline forecast by analysts heading into the reporting season.

The Nasdaq Composite Index ended at a record on Friday, its second in a row, gaining 0.9% to 5210.14. The S&P 500 added 0.1% to 2126.64, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2% to 18086.45.

Receding fears about Greece's financial situation and a handful of stronger-than-expected earnings reports have bolstered stocks in recent sessions. For the month, the Dow has added 2.7% and the S&P 500 has gained 3.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has jumped 4.5%, after both Google Inc. and Netflix Inc. reported robust revenue growth last week and saw huge one-day pops in their shares.

European stocks advanced as Greek banks reopened after three weeks, fueling confidence that Greece has avoided an exit from the eurozone. The Athens Stock Exchange, which has been closed since June 29, remained closed. Germany's DAX rose 1% and France's CAC-40 added 0.8%.

In commodity markets, gold futures shed 2.1% to $1107.60 an ounce, trading near five-year lows. Crude-oil futures slipped 0.9% to $50.42 a barrel.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.388%, compared with 2.349% on Friday. Yields rise as prices fall.

Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at [e-mail] and Dan Strumpf at [e-mail]

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