Investing.com - U.S. stocks close lower Tuesday, as sentiment found some support amid hopes of progress on the euro zone front, however President Obama’s hard line on taxation pressured shares lower on the session.
At the close of U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.11%, the S&P 500 index dropped 0.08%, while the Nasdaq Composite index slipped 0.18%.
Launching the selling, President Obama stated he plans on raising taxes on high income Americans resulting in investors taking profits now prior to any potential tax increase.
Sentiment was boosted after Greece on Monday launched a scheme to buy back its debt from private investors, while Madrid formally requested a bailout to recapitalize its banking sector.
Meanwhile, investors continued to watch negotiations between Democrats and Republicans to avoid the U.S. fiscal cliff, a set of spending cuts and tax increases due to come into effect on January 1 if lawmakers cannot reach an agreement on reducing the budget deficit.
The White House dismissed a proposal from congressional Republicans on Monday that included tax reforms and spending cuts, saying it did not meet President Barack Obama's pledge to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
Qualcomm saw shares edge up 0.03% after the tech company said it was preparing to invest as much as USD120 million in Sharp, a cash injection likely to make it the struggling Japanese TV maker's biggest shareholder, in addition to boosting Sharp's efforts to remain viable.
In the energy sector, Chevron also inched 0.03% higher amid reports the oil and gas giant is to reveal this week a highly anticipated mark-up on the price tag for the Gorgon liquefied natural gas export complex on a remote island off Western Australia.
Elsewhere in company news, U.S. agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland tightened its grip on GrainCorp, hiking its bid to USD2.9 billion and buying more shares, but may need to offer more to win over Australia's last major independent grains handler.
The news sent shares in Archer Daniels up 0.11%.
Meanwhile, financial stocks were mixed. Shares in JP Morgan slipped 0.17% and Goldman Sachs dropped 0.35%, while Bank of America and Citigroup rose 0.20% and 0.41% respectively.
Separately, Cerberus Capital Management LP was reportedly in talks to join Virtu Financial LLC's bid for U.S. brokerage Knight Capital Group Inc, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Among earnings, Autozone, the largest U.S. auto parts retail chain, posted earnings that edged past expectations but said revenue fell slightly short of expectations, sending shares down 0.74%.
At the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose climbed 0.33%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.39%, while Germany’s DAX 30 was even on the session.
Investors are awaiting the ADP employment numbers from the U.S. and the New Zealand interest rate decision on Wednesday.