EARNINGS AND THE ECONOMY-CEOS see some signs of stability

NEW YORK, April 21 (Reuters) - Top executives said they saw some signs of parts of the global economy stabilizing, when they reported their companies' earnings on Tuesday, but they are mostly declining to predict a full-fledged recovery. Here is a compilation of comments:

"Order trends were weak in the quarter, although we saw stabilization in the rate of year-over-year decline across most of our businesses in March." -- United Technologies Corp. (UTX.N) CEO Louis Chenevert in a statement.

"While order rates continue to be down, there are signs of stabilization in the order rates, particularly in China, which is starting to see the early benefits of the stimulus program there." -- United Technologies Chief Financial Officer Greg Hayes on a conference call.

"We were pleased to generate top-line results that were essentially even with prior year and encouraged by the stabilization of our comparable store sales to pre-Christmas levels in North America." -- Lew Frankfort, CEO of luxury leather goods company Coach Inc (COH.N).

"A great deal of uncertainty exists in the global economy, making it extremely difficult to know how our customers will respond during the remainder of 2009." -- Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) CEO Jim Owens.

"In time ... we believe that the economy will grow and the advertising market will improve." -- New York Times Co (NYT.N) CEO Janet Robinson. "While we are looking forward to that day, we are not waiting for it."

"We believe building additional reserves is appropriate given the continued pressure on credit quality, as more businesses and consumers are affected by the persistent severity of the economic downturn." -- Henry Meyer, CEO of regional bank KeyCorp (KEY.N).

"Our first-quarter results in part reflect the impact of the difficult global economy on patients, providers and payors, but we remain on track to meet our full-year earnings guidance." -- Merck & Co (MRK.N) CEO Richard Clark in a statement.

"In the month of March there were signs of recovery, with less negative rates in some countries and positive growth rates in others." -- Pirelli & C SpA (PECI.MI) in a statement. "For the replacement channel, the market contraction was more limited."

"We saw weaker market conditions ... that led to weaker-than-expected end-user demand for hardware and supplies across all geographies, particularly in the business market." -- Paul Curlander, CEO of printer maker Lexmark International Inc (LXK.N), on a conference call.

"We are seeing signs of stability in a number of markets." -- Terry Leahy, CEO of UK-based supermarkets group Tesco Plc (TSCO.L), told reporters.

"Maybe it's a bottom." -- Jeff Joerres, CEO of employment services company Manpower Inc (MAN.N), on a conference call. "(But) we are very well prepared and cognizant of the fact that this may just be a shelf that we are on and there is more to come." (Reporting by Martin Howell, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)