Wall Street was up in midday trade on Tuesday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed the 14,000 mark for the first time to a record high of 14,011.51 before dropping back to 13,989.51, still a gain of 0.3 percent at mid-session.
The Nasdaq Composite was 0.4 percent higher to 2,707.94, while the S&P 500 had added 0.2 percent to 1,551.86.
In the computer-related sectors, search engine Yahoo (NAS: YHOO) and semiconductors maker Intel (NAS: INTC; SEHK: 4335) were both higher ahead of their quarterly reports, scheduled to be released after the close of trade.
Yahoo was 4 cents higher to $26.74, while Intel had added 27 cents to $26.22.
Online auctioneer eBay (NAS: EBAY), expected to report on Wednesday, was 9 cents lower to $34.30.
In the media sector, News Corp (NYSE: NSWS, NWSa; LSE: NCRA; ASX: NWS) and Dow Jones (NYSE: DJ) reached a tentative agreement for News Corp to buy the publisher of the Wall Street Journal.
The deal still has to be approved by the Dow Jones board of directors and by the Bancroft family, which controls a majority of Dow Jones stock.
News Corp added 2.7 percent to $24.27 on the news, while Dow Jones fell 0.7 percent to $56.56.
Pharmaceuticals and consumer goods group Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) dropped 2 percent to $63.51 despite a second-quarter report that showed profits were up 9.3 percent and international sales had grown by 18 percent.