Wall Street slightly higher as oil prices recover

By Tanya Agrawal

REUTERS - U.S. stocks edged higher, trading in a narrow range, early on Tuesday as investors focus on U.S. corporate earnings and oil prices pared some losses after a steep fall earlier in the day.

Oil prices had tumbled due to expectations of increased supply after Iran's nuclear deal, but trimmed some losses as the expected rise in supply was already priced in over recent weeks.

U.S. companies are expected to report their worst sales decline in nearly six years when they post second-quarter results, while earnings are expected to have fallen 2.9 percent, according to Thomson Reuters estimates data.

"The focus is shifting from macro factors to micro as we head into earnings season," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in New York.

"Expectations are very low for the second quarter and the headwind from the strong dollar will continue."

At 10:07 a.m. ET (1407 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was up 12.37 points, or 0.07 percent, at 17,990.05. The S&P 500 was up 3.79 points, or 0.18 percent, at 2,103.39 and the Nasdaq composite was up 17.72 points, or 0.35 percent, at 5,089.23.

Seven of the 10 major S&P 500 sectors were higher with the energy index leading the advancers with a 0.89 percent rise. Energy stocks rose as Brent crude futures and U.S. crude recovered from their lows of the day.

The Commerce Department said retail sales slipped 0.3 percent in June. The reading, the weakest since February, comes on the heels of June's disappointing employment report and sharp drop in small business confidence.

The U.S. quarterly earnings kicked off in earnest with JPMorgan and Wells Fargo reporting results.

JPMorgan's shares inched up 0.4 percent to $68.35 after the bank reported a 5.2 percent increase in quarterly profit as expenses declined.

Wells Fargo slipped marginally to $56.65 after the biggest mortgage lender's revenue missed expectations.

Amazon rose a record high of $464.99 after UBS upgraded the company's stock to "buy" from "neutral".

Dow component Johnson & Johnson fell 0.7 percent to $99.60 after its revenue declined 9 percent.

Micron jumped 8 percent to $19.05 after sources told Reuters that a Chinese company is preparing a $23 billion bid for memory chip maker.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,514 to 1,248. On the Nasdaq, 1,362 issues rose and 1,053 fell.

The S&P 500 index posted 25 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 59 new highs and 17 new lows.

(Editing by Savio D'Souza)