US stocks climb as investors welcome solid company earnings

U.S. stocks moved higher in early trading Tuesday as investors welcomed solid results from homebuilders, retailers and other companies. Technology stocks also rose, rebounding from a slide a day earlier. Energy companies were climbing along with the price of U.S. crude oil.

KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index rose 10 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,867 as of 10:14 a.m. Eastern Time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 78 points, or 0.3 percent, to 25,836. The Nasdaq composite rose 43 points, or 0.6 percent, to 7,864. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 10 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,709.

HOME SWEET HOME: Toll Brothers jumped 11.3 percent to $38.66 after the luxury homebuilder reported earnings that came in well ahead of what analysts were expecting.

WEAR IT WELL: TJX climbed 4.2 percent to $105.93 after the operator of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and other discount retail chains reported quarterly earnings that topped Wall Street’s forecasts.

HEALTHY QUARTER: Medtronic gained 4 percent to $94 after the medical technology company’s latest quarterly report card beat Wall Street’s projections.

FREE TRADE: Discount brokers ETrade and Charles Schwab were down sharply following a report that JPMorgan Chase will offer free online trading. ETrade slid 4 percent to $58.81, while Schwab lost 3.2 percent to $49.78.

UNAPPETIZING RESULTS: J.M. Smucker slid 3.9 percent to $111.31 after the maker of Jif peanut butter, Crisco cooking oil and other products reported quarterly results that fell short of analysts’ estimates. The company also trimmed its outlook for the year.

ENERGY: U.S. benchmark crude rose 2.1 percent to $67.80 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, gained 0.9 percent to $72.84 per barrel in London.

BOND YIELDS: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.85 percent from 2.82 percent late Monday.

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 110.40 yen from 110.23 yen late Monday. The euro strengthened to $1.1527 from $1.1467.

MARKETS OVERSEAS: Germany’s DAX added 1.7 percent, while France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.9 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1 percent. In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose nearly 0.1 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost nearly 1 percent. South Korea’s Kospi rose 1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.6 percent. Shares were higher in Taiwan but fell in Singapore.