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Wall Street Opens Higher Ahead of Data

Elizabeth Trotta

Stocks in New York -- and oil futures as well -- were moving higher early Tuesday ahead of the release of more economic data and Federal Open Market Committee minutes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 73 points at 9026, and the S&P 500 climbed 8 points at 936. The Nasdaq was rising 14 points at 1642.

Of Tuesday's data, the Institute for Supply Management will release its December index of non-manufacturing activity, the Commerce Department will post its report on November factory orders, and the National Association of Realtors will provide its November index of pending sales of existing homes.

Investors will also have an eye on minutes from the December meeting of the Federal Reserve in which the key benchmark interest rate was scaled back to a range of zero to 0.25%.

Wall Street posted an apathetic trading session Monday as updates on U.S. auto sales, Steve Jobs, the president elect's stimulus plan and disgraced investor Bernard Madoff played on the market.

In analyst actions Tuesday, Oppenheimer upgraded Apple (AAPL Quote) to outperform and raised its price target a day after CEO Steve Jobs wrote a "Dear Apple Community" letter on his health, reassuring investors he'd stay at the helm.

Also, Merriman upgraded Google (GOOG Quote) to neutral from sell, while Bernstein, which has an outperform rating, cut its estimates for the company.

Taking a look at commodities, oil was up $1.28 at $50.09 a barrel, while gold gave up $12.10 to $845.70 an ounce.

The 10-year Treasury note was giving up 23/32 to yield 2.6%, and the 30-year note was down 1 19/32, yielding 3.1%. The dollar was stronger against the euro, pound and yen.

Overseas, the FTSE in London and the DAX in Frankfurt were both edging higher Tuesday. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei ended higher and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended with modest losses.