Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The Dow Jones Industrial Average finds itself trading in positive territory despite the weight of losses in Microsoft (MSFT 415.84, -26.49, -6.0%) and Caterpillar (CAT 375.88, -17.35, -4.4%), which reported earnings. Their weakness has been offset in the price-weighted average, however, by gains in the majority of Dow components, including IBM (IBM 256.75, +28.12, +12.3%) and Sherwin-Williams (SHW 365.33, +4.92, +1.4%), which also reported earnings.

IBM is reportedly on track for its best day since 2000.

While the total gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.5%) is modest today, it belies the fact that the Dow Jones Industrial Average leads all other indices so far this year with a 5.6% gain.

Apple (AAPL 238.42, -0.94, -0.4%), another Dow component, is set to report its quarterly results after today's close.