Stocks increase modestly

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Stocks posted modest gains Tuesday as investors worked through another large batch of earnings reports.

Pharmaceutical stocks rose after drug giant Merck reported better-than-expected results. Twitter plunged nearly 20 percent after its results, which were released early, missed analysts’ marks.

Earnings season is at its busiest this week, with more than 150 companies reporting their results, including Apple, Exxon Mobil, Ford and others. So far, earnings have been coming in better than the gloomy expectations analysts had at the beginning of the month.

But with stocks trading at all-time highs, there’s little momentum for this market to barrel upward, strategists say.

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 72.17 points, or 0.4 percent, to 18,110.14. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 5.84 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,114.76. The Nasdaq composite edged down 4.83 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,055.42.