U.S. stocks up as reaction to Egyptian fears ease somewhat

U.S. stocks are modestly higher today as fears over the unrest in Egypt appear to have eased a bit after Hosni Mubarak named a new cabinet. Energy stocks are leading the upward tick.

The Dow Jones Industrial Index is up 0.17 percent, while the S&P 500 is up 0.48 percent, and the Nasdaq is up 0.17 percent.

The MSCI Emerging Markets index, of which about 0.5 percent is comprised of Egypt-based stocks, is down 1.36 percent.

Oil futures are up slightly, as is the 10-year bond yield.

Gold is down slightly by 0.71 percent as containing inflation continues to be a primary concern of G20 countries.

Shares of Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) have climbed 1.19 percent after the oil giant reported a 58 percent increase in earnings in 2010, or $3.98 per share, compared to 2009.

The company attributed the increase to increased oil production, as well as higher crude oil and natural gas prices during the year. In particular, its oil production in Qatar, a Saudi neighbor, was up 19 percent.

Shares of BG Group (LSE: BG.L), a competitor of Exxon, have risen 5.06 percent so far after being awarded a $222.3-million contract from British oil company Amec (LSE: AMEC PLC).

Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) is down 1.05 percent today as the company announced a design flaw in its new core processing chip that is likely to cost the company $300 million in revenue.

That was good news for Intel’s main competitor, Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), as its shares are up 5.61 percent.