Earnings Lift Wall Street Slightly at the Open

U.S. stocks rose slightly at the open on Tuesday following better-than-expected results from companies such as Pfizer and Merck and ahead of data on consumer sentiment.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 24.25 points or 0.14 percent, to 17,006.84, the S&P 500 gained 2.96 points or 0.15 percent, to 1,981.87 and the Nasdaq Composite added 10.57 points or 0.24 percent, to 4,455.47.