U.S. stocks open mildly higher on strong earnings reports

U.S. stocks opened higher on Monday as Wall Street cheered over generally upbeat second-quarter earnings reports.

With no major economic reports due Monday, the focus shifted to quarterly results from big companies.

Morgan Stanley edged up 0.3 percent in early trading after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. The bank posted a net income of 1.8 billion U.S. dollars on net revenues of 9.7 billion dollars for the second quarter, compared with a net income of 1.9 billion dollars on revenue of 8.6 billion dollars a year ago.

Halliburton Co. jumped 1.4 percent in early trading on Monday following quarterly results that also beat Wall Street's forecasts. The oilfield services provider announced that its income from continuing operations for the second quarter of 2015 was 380 million dollars, or 0.44 dollar per diluted share, excluding special items.

Overseas, Greek banks reopened on Monday after a three-week holiday introduced to avert a collapse of the banking system amidst fears of an imminent default and Grexit.

As capital controls remain in place and new Value Added Tax increases came into effect as of Monday under the recent agreement, Greeks will have to continue to make do with limited sources.

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite Index refreshing its record intraday and closing highs, as investors meditated on economic data and second-quarter earnings reports.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 19.64 points, or 0.11 percent, to 18,106.09. The S&P 500 edged up 2.05 points, or 0.10 percent, to 2,128.69. The Nasdaq gained 12.57 points, or 0.24 percent, to 5,222.71. Endi