Stocks edge higher as major earnings week starts

Stocks are edging higher as another big week for company earnings begins.

Halliburton rose after the oil exploration company said it was profitable in the first-quarter after reporting a loss in the same period a year ago. Athenahealth, a provider of online services to the health care industry, slumped after its earnings fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose three points, or less 0.2 percent, to 1,868 in the first few minutes of trading Monday. Last week the index logged its best performance since July after the first major week of earnings.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 35 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,443.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.70 percent from 2.73 percent on Thursday.