NEW YORK — Stocks are moving slightly higher in early trading on Wall Street as investors welcomed earnings gains from major companies including Bank of America, Yahoo and the railroad operator CSX.
Investors were also encouraged by reassurance from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that there was no "preset course" for ending the bank's massive bond-purchasing program.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 30 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,481 points in the first few minutes of trading Wednesday.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose five points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,681. The Nasdaq composite rose 10 points, 0.3 percent, to 3,608.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell from 2.55 percent to 2.47 percent after Bernanke's comments were released as investors bought government bonds.
Overseas markets also rose.
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