By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- U.S. stock markets opened mixed on Tuesday, as concerns about ongoing political instability and the severity of the pandemic's latest surge blunted optimism generated by promises of more stimulus and the start of the nation's vaccination campaign.
By 9:45 AM ET (1445 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 36 points, or 0.1%, at 30,973 points, while the S&P 500 was flat and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.4%.
The near-term challenges to the economic outlook were underlined earlier by a closely-watched indicator of small business optimism falling to its lowest level since June. The National Federation of Independent Businesses' main index of confidence fell to 95.9 from 101.4 in December. Despite that, the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies powered 1.0% higher to a new all-time high.
Bank stocks were again among the most prominent early gainers, with Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) stock rising 1.3% to a new record high. It's now up nearly 10% since the Democratic Party's victory in the Georgia runoff elections solidified 'blue; control of Congress for the first time in six years. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) stock also rose 0.5%, while Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) rose 1.6% to its highest in a year. All are being supported by the sell-off in longer-dated U.S. Treasuries, which is increasing the spread between short-term and long-term interest rates. A wider spread gives banks fatter lending margins.
Among early movers, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) stock fell 0.6% and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock fell 0.1% as the two companies braced for legal action from the supporters of Donald Trump, after both companies clamped down on language that they said could be used to foster further violence. That came against the backdrop of an FBI warning of armed protests across the country to mark and possibly disrupt the inauguration of Joe Biden as president next week.
Elsewhere, Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) stock rocketed again, after it said it would form a joint venture with France's Renault (OTC:RNLSY) with the aim of getting a 30% market share in the European van market. It's the second major strategic announcement from the loss-making manufacturer of hydrogen fuel cells in barely a week. Plug Power stock rose 16%, while other makers of hydrogen fuel cells were also dragged higher by the news. Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) rose 14.1% and FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ:FCEL) rose 12.3%.
On the downside, Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) stock fell 0.6% to its lowest in over a month after the announcement of the death of its chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson.