US stocks waver; IBM, other tech stocks rise

July 19, 2012 at 12:45p.m.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks on Wall Street flipped between small gains and losses in early trading today. IBM and other technology companies rose after reporting strong earnings, but economic reports came in weaker than analysts had expected.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 29 points at 12,937 in the first hour of trading. IBM was the Dow’s top stock, surging 3 percent after posting a 6 percent jump in profits late Wednesday even as its revenue sank. That marked the 38th consecutive quarter that IBM’s net income has increased over the previous year. IBM rose $7.46 to $195.71.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index edged up two points to 1,374. Technology stocks rose more than the rest of the market, sending the Nasdaq composite index up 16 points to 2,959.