U.S. stocks mixed as U.S fiscal concerns weigh; Dow Jones up 0.31%

Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened mixed on Tuesday, as sentiment found some support amid hopes of progress on the euro zone front, altough ongoing concerns over U.S. fiscal policy continued to weigh on investor confidence.

During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.31%, the S&P 500 index added 0.19%, while the Nasdaq Composite index slipped 0.11%.

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%.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.43%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.47%, Germany's DAX added 0.10%, while Britain's FTSE 100 inched up 0.01%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged 0.15% higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.27%.