NEW YORK, July 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened mixed on Monday as investors were awaiting a batch of earnings reports later this week.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 7.86 points, or 0.04 percent, to 21,629.88. The S&P 500 lost 0.68 points, or 0.03 percent, to 2,458.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 4.02 points, or 0.06 percent, to 6,316.49.
Goldman Sachs, the Bank of America, Microsoft, and eBay are among the major companies scheduled to release quarterly results later this week.
According to S&P Capital IQ, overall earnings are expected to grow by 6.2 percent this quarter. Earnings in the first quarter rose by approximately 15 percent.
With no major data due out on Monday, market participants also kept an eye on the oil prices. U.S. crude rose 5.2 percent last week and started the week hovering around 46.40 U.S. dollars a barrel.
Last week, all three major indices posted sharp gains, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq going up 1.04 percent, 1.41 percent and 2.59 percent, respectively.
