Earnings News Lift Markets To Higher Open

Better than expected corporate earnings lifted the markets to a higher open with the Dow gaining 21 points to 11,138. Nasdaq rose 4 points to 2505.

On the upside

Visa (NYSE: V) will acquire online payment processor CyberSource (Nasdaq: CYBS) for approximately $2 billion in cash.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) swung to a first quarter profit that beat analyst expectations by a wide margin as revenue surged.

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) narrowed first quarter losses.

On the downside

First quarter earnings for Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) surged to top analyst estimates but the biopharmaceutical lowered its 2010 revenue outlook.

While first quarter earnings for Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) nearly tripled, revenue fell short of expectations.

Synovus Financial (NYSE: SNV) widened first quarter losses due to rising loan loss provisions.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 3 on the NYSE while advancers barely edged out decliners by a slim margin on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added a point to 723.