Nearly half the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones industrial average report fourth-quarter results this week as well as scores of other companies, including many from the oil, chemical and the telecommunications industry.

Wall Street has forecast overall fourth-quarter earnings growth of roughly 17 percent for the 500 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index, down a bit from a third-quarter peak of 22.7 percent.

With one-third of the earnings season over, I/B/E/S International said Corporate America is surprising the Street with even higher profits. At this point, 67 percent of the reports from S&P; 500 companies have beaten the conventional wisdom, "well above" the average in the past several quarter, I/B/E/S analyst Joseph Abbott said in a report.

The bulk of the 14 Dow companies reporting this week are expected to show growth. Big gains are forecast from Exxon Mobil Corp., American Express Co., Eastman Kodak Co., Procter & Gamble Co., Coca-Cola Co., and Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co.

However, AT&T; Corp. and chemicals giant DuPont Co. are expected to show lighter profits per share compared with the year-ago period.

Investors will pick over the earnings report from Compaq Computer Corp., the world's largest personal computer maker. Many institutional investors have repurchased the stock, looking for a turnaround after a huge slide due to business turmoil and a management shake-up in the spring.

Bear Stearns has said it wants to see the new, untested management team drive down expenses and stir up revenue growth. Beyond the earnings fireworks will be the market's response to developments in interest rates and energy prices. The yield on the U.S. 30-year Treasury bond closed the week at 6.70 percent, just shy of the two-year high of 6.75 percent mark last week. The bond market is expecting the Federal Reserve to raise rates by at least 50 basis points, or a half percent, by April.

Investors are concerned stocks, which ignored the jump in the long bond yield from roughly 6 percent to 6.75 percent since November, could be vulnerable if rates go even higher. So there will be a heavy focus on events that may give clues on the outcome of the Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee meeting on Feb. 1 and 2.

Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan is due to testify on Tuesday in front of the Senate.

Also due out this week: the employment cost index, said to be watched closely by Greenspan; durable goods orders for December, on big-ticket items like airplanes and washing machines; and estimates for the nation's gross domestic product and inflation in the fourth quarter.

Charles Payne, an analyst at Wall Street Strategies, said he was looking most closely at the employment cost index.

"We want to see how much the tight labor market pool is affecting corporate America. So that's going to be the most significant thing," as well as earnings, Payne said.

Another looming concern could be rising energy prices. Oil prices raced to nine-year highs on Friday, sparked by talk that OPEC countries will continue to keep supplies in check and a cold snap in the United States.