Stocks Opened Higher on Strong Earnings

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Tuesday, helped by a string of upbeat earnings reports from companies such as Kellogg and Mastercard. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 2.03 points, or 0.01%, to 23,346.71. The S&P 500 gained 0.86 points, or 0.03%, to 2,573.69. The Nasdaq Composite added 13.10points, or 0.20%, to 6,712.06.

Oil prices swung between gains and losses on Tuesday. Brent crude for December traded 13 cents, or 0.2%, lower at $60.77 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate for December were trading down 10 cents, or 0.2%, at $54.06 a barrel.

Kellogg Co. (K) reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat estimates. Net income totaled $297.0 million, or 85 cents per share, up from $292.0 million, or 82 cents per share, for the same period last year. Revenue was $3.27 billion, up from $3.25 billion last year.

Mastercard Inc. (MA) reported earnings for the third quarter that were above Wall Street expectations. Mastercard reported net income of $1.4 billion, or $1.34 per share, up from $1.2 billion, or $1.08 per share during the same period a year ago. Revenue was $3.4 billion, compared with $2.9 billion a year ago.

Home prices in the U.S. ended the summer on a high note. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Price Index was up 6.1% in August, up from 5.9% a month earlier. The 0.2% increase met analysts’ expectations.