Wall Street stocks finished with little change on Tuesday, digesting a trove of mostly solid earnings while shrugging off higher treasury bond yields.

After opening lower, major indices pushed into positive territory in the afternoon before losing steam after that.

"The market is just kind of grinding and not doing a whole lot," said Art Hogan of B Riley Wealth Management. "It's indicative of a market taking a step back."

The Dow Jones ended essentially unchanged at 42,924.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent to 5,851, while the Nasdaq added 0.2 percent at 18,573.

The flattish day came as US Treasury yields climbed, a dynamic that has sometimes pressured stocks.

"I think that there's a tension between the fact that yields are rising which obviously means that bonds are more competitive with stocks," said Tom Cahill of Ventura Wealth Management.

"On the other hand, it's also indicative that the economy might be stronger than we thought it may have been. So you have that tension there."

Among individual companies, General Motors shot up around 10 percent as it raised its full-year forecast, reflecting strong vehicle pricing that boosted third-quarter earnings.

But GE Aerospace slumped 9.1 percent despite increasing its annual projections amid strong demand. However, analysts pointed to lingering concerns connected to a Boeing strike that has shuttered two US plane production plants. (AFP)