Stocks Holding Steady in Quiet Trading

NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stock indexes held steady in early trading on Tuesday following strong earnings reports from the makers of Kellogg's cereals, Oreo cookies and others. Markets were absorbing a deluge of reports on corporate earnings and the global economy.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was close to flat, while bond yields were stable and commodity prices dipped modestly.

KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 rose 1 point, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,574, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time. It has been on a gentle slope upward for most of this year, and its modest decline of 0.3 percent on Monday followed seven straight weeks of gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average was basically flat at 23,349, and the Nasdaq composite rose 12 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6,710.

CENTRAL BANK WATCH: The Bank of Japan decided on Tuesday to keep interest rates at ultra-low levels, though it cut its outlook for inflation. It's just one of several major central banks meeting this week on interest rates.

The Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates on Thursday, which would be the first increase in in a decade.

The Federal Reserve will wrap up a two-day meeting on Wednesday, though most economists expect it to wait until its December meeting to raise rates for the third time this year. More attention is on President Donald Trump's choice to be the next chair of the Fed, and the announcement is expected to be made on Thursday.

FOOD BINGE: Several food companies were among the market's top performers after reporting stronger-than-expected earnings.

Kellogg jumped $4.02, or 6.8 percent, to $62.89. Stronger sales of Pringles in Europe and Asia helped it to report slightly higher revenue in the third quarter than a year earlier.

Mondelez International gained $2.49, or 6.3 percent, to $41.79 after it reported revenue gains in Latin America, Europe and North America.

THREADED: Under Armour fell to the largest loss in the S&P 500 after it said demand for its sporting gear in North America weakened last quarter. It also lowered its forecast for earnings this year for the second time in three months. Its Class A shares fell $2.37, or 14.5 percent, to $14.04.

YIELDS: Bond yields held steady as prices for Treasurys were close to flat. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note remained at 2.37 percent, and the two-year yield held at 1.58 percent. The 30-year Treasury yield dipped to 2.87 percent from 2.88 percent late Monday.

STOCKS ABROAD: The French CAC 40 rose 0.2 percent, the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.1 percent and the DAX in Germany was flat. Japan's Nikkei 225 index held steady, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.3 percent and South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.9 percent.

CURRENCIES: The dollar from inched up to 113.45 Japanese yen from 113.18 yen late Monday. The euro ticked up to $1.1639 from $1.1637, and the British pound rose to $1.3245 from $1.3199.

COMMODITIES: Benchmark U.S. crude oil dipped 12 cents to $54.03 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 11 cents to $60.48 per barrel.

Gold slipped $5.20 to $1,272.50 per ounce, silver lost 8 cents to $16.77 per ounce and copper dipped a penny to $3.10 per pound.

(BE)