Stocks start mixed as reports awaited

By CNNMoney staffApril 25, 2011: 9:42 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — U.S. stocks struggled at Monday’s open, as investors awaited the latest data on the housing market and corporate reports due later in the week.

But commodity prices continued to rally, with gold prices flying further into record territory and silver prices nearing $50 an ounce.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) was down 15 points, or 0.1%, shortly after the opening bell. The S&P 500 (SPX) slipped 1 point, or 0.1%. But the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) added less than 1 point.

After strong earnings propelled the Dow to a near 3-year high in the prior week, investors were looking to extend the rally Monday. The last week in April brings earnings reports from nine Dow components and 180 members of the S&P 500, including Netflix (NFLX) after Monday’s close.

“There still seems to be pretty good momentum behind some of the earnings announcements we’ve seen so far,” said Jeff Coons, president of Manning & Napier Advisors.

The market was closed Friday in observance of Good Friday.

Economy: Monday also brings the latest data on new home sales, scheduled for release by the Census Bureau at 10 a.m. ET.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect new home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 280,000 units in March from a 250,000-unit rate in February.

“Home sales are critical, and even though we may see some marginal improvement, they’re still down considerably from where they were before the downturn,” said Andy Hugos, financial consultant with LPL Financial.

Companies: Netflix (NFLX) will announce first-quarter results after the closing bell. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the online movie rental company’s profit to surge almost 80%, as sales climb 43% from a year earlier.

World markets: Asian markets ended lower. The Shanghai Composite fell 1.5% and Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.1%.

Stock markets in Britain, Germany, France and Hong Kong were all closed for Easter Monday.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar fell against the euro and the the British pound, but rose against the Japanese yen.

Oil for June delivery gained 70 cents to $112.90 a barrel.

Gold futures for June delivery rose $9.50 to $1,513.30 an ounce, after breaking a new intra-day trading high of $1,518.60 earlier Monday.

Silver futures for May delivery were up $2.17 to $48.22 an ounce. Earlier, prices rose to $49.82, near an all-time high.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 3.39% from 3.4% late Thursday. The bond market closed early on Thursday and remained closed in observance of Good Friday.