U.S. stocks open higher amid earnings, data

U.S. stocks opened mildly higher Tuesday, as Wall Street digested quarterly earnings reports from big companies and the country's housing market data.

Shares of Goldman Sachs rose about 1 percent in early trading Tuesday after the company delivered quarterly earnings above estimates and revenues shy of forecasts. Before Tuesday's opening bell, Goldman Sachs reported net revenues of 6.34 billion U.S. dollars and net earnings of 1.14 billion dollars for the first quarter ending March 31, 2016.

Shares of Johnson & Johnson jumped nearly 2 percent in early trading Tuesday after the release of the consumer products and drug company's better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

On the economic front, U.S. privately-owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,089,000 units, reported the Commerce Department Tuesday.

This is 8.8 percent below the revised February estimate of 1,194,000 units, but is 14.2 percent above the March 2015 rate of 954,000 units.

Oil prices were also in focus, which rebounded in early trading Tuesday as an oil workers' strike in Kuwait nearly halved crude production from the OPEC member.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 27.66 points, or 0.15 percent, to 18,031.82. The S&P 500 added 4.55 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,098.89. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.61 point, or 0.01 percent, to 4,960.63.

On Monday, U.S. stocks reversed early losses to end higher, as investors shook off worries over the failure of oil producers to agree on an output freeze in Doha over the weekend. Endit