(Updates with open)
NEW YORK, April 21 (Reuters) - Stocks stuck close to unchanged at Monday's open ahead of a rush of earnings reports that could offer more clues on how corporate profits are faring against the lackluster economic backdrop.
The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index eased 1 point, or 0.06 percent, to 1,424. The broad Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 1 point, or 0.13 percent, to 894. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrials added 17 points, or 0.21 percent, to 8,356.
Investors straggled back from a three-day Easter holiday weekend to the most hectic week of the first-quarter earnings season. One-third of the Standard & Poor's 500 companies will post earnings this week, including phone companies AT&T Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. , film provider Eastman Kodak Co. and jet maker Boeing Co. .
The next clue to the state of the U.S. economy comes at 10:00 a.m. (1400 GMT) when the March leading indicators report will be released. The market is looking for a slight decline of 0.1 percent compared with a previous drop of 0.4 percent.
Merck & Co Inc. , a Dow component, edged up 55 cents to $56.44. The company said its first-quarter profit rose on stronger sales of drugs for asthma, hypertension and arthritis, and easy comparisons from a poor performance in the year-ago quarter.