Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened mixed on Tuesday, as markets were jittery ahead of upcoming U.S. economic reports as Monday's upbeat U.S. data did little to support sentiment.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow 30 slipped 0.14%, the S&P 500 edged down 0.12%, while the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.20%.
On Monday, the National Association of Realtors said that U.S. existing home sales increased 4.9% to a seven-month high of 4.89 million units last month from 4.66 million in April. Analysts had expected existing home sales to rise 2.2% to 4.73 million units in May.
Separately, market research group Markit said that its preliminary U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to a four-year high of 57.5 this month from a final reading of 56.4 in May. Analysts had expected the index to ease down to 56.1 in June.
Walgreen (NYSE:WAG) tumbled 1.49% after the drugstore chain reported a 16% rise in its fiscal third-quarter earnings, still below market expectations.
Dean Foods (NYSE:DF) added to losses, dropping 0.68%, after the Wall Street Journal reported that Federal authorities asked for information related to an insider-trading probe of investor Carl Icahn from the food-and-beverage supplier.
Elsewhere, Avon Products (NYSE:AVP) shares retreated 0.54% after the cosmetics seller said it plans to cut 600 jobs in a bid to reduce costs and restore profitability. According to the company, the job cuts should save $50 million to $55 million a year before taxes.
Gap (NYSE:GPS) slipped 0.19% after announcing that employment applications at Gap and Old Navy chains have climbed by at least 10% from a year earlier. The news came in the wake of the retailer's plans in February to increase hourly wages to $10 by 2015.
In M&A news, Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), down 0.27%, confirmed late Monday that it had agreed to buy Russian drug maker Veropharm.
On the upside, Monsanto (NYSE:MON) shares gained 0.47% amid reports it is considering a takeover bid for Swiss agricultural firm Syngenta (SIX:SYNN).
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 dipped 0.03%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.13%, Germany's DAX inched 0.04% higher, while Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.22%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.33%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 inched up 0.05%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release private sector data on consumer confidence, as well as a report on new home sales.