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New York - Strong earnings reports from a trio of big companies lifted the blue-chip Dow Tuesday, while Apple weighed on the Nasdaq as investors nervously awaited the technology giant's results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 74.39 points to finish the session at 13,001.56 and the broad S&P 500 advanced 5.03 to 1,371.97.
The tech-rich Nasdaq dropped 8.85 points (0.30%) to 2,961.60. Heavyweight Apple, the world's biggest company by market value, shed 2.0% as investors fretted about what its fiscal second-quarter results, due after the market closed, would reveal.
Before Wall Street opened for business, investors had encouraging quarterly earnings from three companies: AT&T, 3M and United Technologies
AT&T and 3M had strong quarters that beat expectations, sending shares up 3.6% and 1.6% respectively. United Technologies sales disappointed with shares slipping 0.1%.
In economic news, consumer confidence dipped for the second straight month in April, according to The Conference Board.
New-home sales fell 7.1% in March, but the February number was revised sharply higher by the Commerce Department.
Meanwhile, investors awaited the outcome of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy-setting meeting that ends Wednesday. The Federal Open Market Committee has kept the key interest rate near zero for more than three years in an effort to spur recovery from a deep recession.
Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury increased to 1.96% from 1.94% on Monday, and the 30-year Treasury was unchanged at 3.11%.
Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
