Stocks Opened Flat amid Earnings

U.S. stocks opened little-changed on Monday, as investors focused on earnings reports this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 2.98 points, or 0.01%, to 21,634.76. The S&P 500 was up 1.09 points, or 0.04%, to 2,460.36. The Nasdaq Composite gained 13.83 points, or 0.22%, to 6,326.29.

Crude futures were off to an upbeat start on Monday, adding to gains seen every day last week for benchmark prices. Light, sweet crude futures for delivery in August recently traded up 16 cents, or 0.3%, to $46.70 a barrel. September Brent crude rose 19 cents, or 0.4%, to $49.10 a barrel.

China’s economy expanded faster-than-expected in the second quarter. China’s gross domestic product rose 6.9 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the same rate as the first quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. That was higher than analysts’ expectations of a 6.8 percent expansion.

BlackRock Inc (BLK), the world’s biggest asset manager, reported a massive influx of cash into its low-cost funds but nonetheless fell short of Wall Street’s forecasts as price cuts and lower performance fees dented revenue. The company pulled in a record $74 billion (56.63 billion pounds) during the most recent quarter, up from $16 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 10 percent to $5.22, or $5.24 after adjusting for non-recurring items and charges that do not affect the company’s value.