Stocks opened higher Tuesday as investors shrugged off a downgrade on Portugal, instead focusing on earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 100 points at the start, its sixth straight gain.
All 30 Dow components were higher at the start, led by Alcoa, after the aluminum maker beat earnings expectations and raised its forecastfor growth in global aluminum demand for this year to 12 percent from 10 percent.
Rounding out the Dow's top three were Caterpillar and GE , which reports earnings later this week.
Even European shares were higher, showing little reaction after Moody's cut Portugal's rating by two notches to A1.
Market pros said investors are increasingly believing that the chance of default is slim.
Also in Europe, Greece managed to sell $2.03 billion of 6-month T-bills, but had to pay a higher yield compared to the April auction.
Apple was among the few decliners this morning after Consumer Reports questioned the company's explanation of the glitch with its new iPhone 4 and said it can't recommend the product.
In addition to Alcoa, railroad operator CSX also delivered strong results, an encouraging sign for earnings season.
Intel shares rose ahead of its earnings, due out after the bell today.
Reports are due out later in the week from Google , Bank of America and Citigroup.
The latest news from BP : A new containment cap for the massive Gulf spill is ready to be tested, and the Financial Times is reporting that the costs of dealing with the spill will cut BP's tax bill by $10 billion over four years.
On the economic front, the US trade deficit widened unexpectedlyin May, led by a big jump in Chinese imports that helped overpower the best month for US exports since September 2008.
The Treasury will sell $21 billion in 10-year notes Tuesday, following a successful auction of 3-year notes Monday. As usual, the auction results will be available shortly after 1 pm.
This Week:
TUESDAY: Small business optimism report; International trade; Treasury budget; Earnings from Intel, Yum
WEDNESDAY: Weekly mortgage apps; Government report on retail sales; import/export prices; business inventories; Fed minutes
THURSDAY: PPI; Empire State survey; weekly jobless claims; industrial production; Philly Fed survey; Yellen nomination hearing; Fed's Lacker speaks; Earnings from JPMorgan, Novartis, Google and AMD
FRIDAY: CPI; consumer sentiment; Earnings from Bank of America, Citigroup, GE and Gannett
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