US stocks held on to their gains in early afternoon trading on Tuesday, reversing earlier declines, on strong earnings from Merck, better-than-expected housing data and a dividend hike from IBM. The markets swung between gains and losses in early trading, led by Apple. Apple hit a record high early after its strong results. The shares then fell as much as 2.3 percent, weighing on all three major indices, before recovering to trade up 0.1 percent at $132.85.
A majority of the ten S&P 500 sectors were up in afternoon trading, led by a 1.4 percent rise in the teleservices index. US single-family home prices rose more than expected in February from a year earlier, according to a survey. "So far, the first quarter earnings have surpassed expectations and the housing numbers came in strong," said John Augustine, chief investment officer at Huntington Bank in Columbus, Ohio, which oversees more than $12.6 billion in funds.
IBM shares rose 1.8 percent to $173.92 and were the biggest positive influence on the Dow after the company hiked its quarterly dividend by 18 percent, the biggest increase in five years. At 13:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was up 62.92 points, or 0.35 percent, at 18,100.89, the S&P 500 was up 5.31 points, or 0.25 percent, at 2,114.23 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 9.84 points, or 0.19 percent, at 5,070.09.
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