By MarketWatch
U.S. stocks were slightly lower early Monday as a round of earnings reports weighed on markets, which have sprinted higher over the last two weeks.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrials were lower by about 8 points after briefly turning positive. The S&P 500-stock index and the Nasdaq Composite Index each fell by less than five points.
Stocks have sprinted higher over the last two weeks. Each of the three major stocks indexes rose more than 4% last week and are up more than 11% over the last two weeks, bolstered by stronger-than-expected earnings reports.
Earnings on Monday were mixed. Aetna shares slid 5% after posting a 28% drop in its quarterly earnings and cutting its earnings outlook for the second time in two months. Verizon Communications shares dipped 0.6% after it posted a smaller-than-expected 7% decline in earnings. Verizon is a Dow component.
Oil and gold prices were higher. The dollar was stronger against the yen and weaker against the euro. Treasury prices were lower ahead of a deluge of new issuance from the U.S. government.
Asian markets gained on Monday amid optimism over the pace of economic recovery, with Japan's Nikkei 225 ending above the 10000 mark for the first time since June. Stocks in Europe were also stronger.
