U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Tuesday as investors pulled back a little from Monday’s gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average opened down 11.63 points at 9,752.75. The broader S&P 500 opened down 1.48 points at 1,043.87. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index opened down 6.02 points, at 1,927.51.

Stocks hit 16-month highs Monday due to positive earnings news from Motorola. The Dow industrials advanced 89.70, or 0.93%, to 9,764.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 18.22, or 0.95%, to 1,933.53.

Toronto stocks are playing catch-up today after being closed for Thanksgiving.

Shortly after the open the S&P/TSX composite index was up 84.74 points at 7,718.35.

Last week the composite index rose 1.5%, closing at 7,633.61 on Friday.

Merrill Lynch & Co. is reporting a Q3 increase in net profit of 50%, boosted by higher earnings at its global markets and investment-banking business. The brokerage firm reported net income of US$1.04 billion, or US$1.04 a share, compared with US$693 million, or US73¢ a share, a year earlier.

Other positive reports are coming in from Johnson & Johnson and Bank of America, Intel is expected to report shortly after the opening bell.

In Asia, Motorola’s report and an upbeat fourth-quarter forecast sent the Nikkei 225 Average up 1.67%. In Europe at midday, London FTSE is 0.3% lower. Paris is down 0.1%. Frankfurt’s DAX has slid 0.12% lower.

No U.S. economic reports are scheduled today. Statistics Canada is reporting that the number of new motor vehicles sold in August slipped 1.1% from July — the smallest monthly change in 2003.