Stock futures gave up some of their early gains but still pointed to a higher open Tuesday on mixed signals from new government reports on the state of the economic recovery.

The Labor Department said lower energy prices pushed U.S. wholesale prices lower in September, leaving a larger-than-expected monthly decline in the producer price index. Wall Street economists expected a flat reading. The drop comes after a steep rise in August.

Separately, the Commerce Department said home building rose a third time in four months during September, reflecting higher sales this year. The increase, however, was smaller than expected.

Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 26, or 0.3 percent, to 10,037 after being up 40 points earlier. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 3.00, or 0.3 percent, to 1,094.10, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 15.00, or 0.9 percent, to 1,765.25.

Futures had moved higher earlier in response to better-than-expected third-quarter results from a handful of companies, including chemical maker DuPont and Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest pharmaceutical company.

DuPont and health insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc. each cited cost-cutting efforts as they reported better results for the July-September period from a year earlier. Pfizer also reported that lower expenses boosted its earnings.

Caterpillar Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. both said profits declined in the latest quarter as sales fell short.

Disappointing results from Bank of New York Mellon did little to sway the market. The financial company took a hefty charge during the third quarter to restructure its securities portfolio, resulting in a loss of almost $2.5 billion.

Later in the day, Internet company Yahoo Inc. and student lender SLM Corp. are scheduled to release earnings.

Better-than-expected earnings reports from Apple Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. late Monday helped restore investor confidence that was shaken late last week by big banks' loan losses.

Earnings reports have bolstered hopes that the economy is indeed recovering. The market reached new highs Monday, with the Dow closing up 1 percent.

Global markets were also focused on U.S. earnings reports, hoping for signs of economic strength.

Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 1 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX index and France's CAC-40 were all down 0.3 percent.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, remained unchanged from 3.39 percent late Monday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.09 percent from 0.08 percent late Tuesday.

The dollar mostly fell against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.