Investing.com - U.S. stocks were mixed on Tuesday, as markets eyed the release of U.S. factory orders data as well as the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting while concerns over the debt crisis in the euro zone continued to weigh.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.24%, the S&P 500 index declined 0.28%, while the Nasdaq Composite index edged up 0.05%.
Concerns over the outlook for the euro zone continued to weigh on sentiment after official data confirmed that the bloc’s economy contracted by 0.3% in the final three months of 2011, unchanged from a preliminary estimate. Annualized gross domestic product contracted by 0.7% in the fourth quarter.
Stocks had broadly rallied after a report on Monday showed the U.S. manufacturing sector expanded more-than-forecast in March, while official data from China on Sunday showed that manufacturing activity in the world’s second largest economy jumped to an 11-month high last month.
Netflix was one of the session’s top losers, with shares plunging 3.19% after Barclays downgraded the online movie streaming company to "equal weight" from "overweight," amid increasing competitive threats in the subscription video on demand market.
Financial stocks were also broadly lower amid rumors of potential downgrades of U.S. lenders including Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America by Moody’s rating agency.
Shares in JP Morgan dropped 0.89% and Goldman Sachs declined 0.86%, while Bank of America and Citigroup lost 0.52% and 0.49% respectively.
Moody’s had said in February that Morgan Stanley may be lowered three grades, adding that Citigroup and Bank of America could join the U.S. lender at Baa2, two levels above junk.
Elsewhere, GlaxoSmithKline saw shares edge down 0.07% after the company said it will push ahead with plans to file its experimental once-weekly diabetes drug albiglutide for regulatory approval, following the read-out from a series of clinical trials.
Also in the health care sector, Illumina shares were down 0.04% after its board unanimously rejected Roche Holding's increased offer to buy the genetic sequencing company for about USD6.7 billion, saying it dramatically undervalued the company.
On the upside, Apple shares gained 1.57% after JPMorgan raised its price target on the iPad maker to USD715 from USD625.
Meanwhile, Avon Products saw shares surge 1.10% after Coty disclosed it had offered USD10 billion for the U.S. personal care company which rejected the bid as too low and "opportunistic".
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 0.83%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.79%, Germany's DAX fell 0.33%, while Britain's FTSE 100 declined 0.29%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.7%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slumped 0.7%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce official data on factory orders, while the Federal Reserve was to release the minutes of its most recent policy meeting.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.24%, the S&P 500 index declined 0.28%, while the Nasdaq Composite index edged up 0.05%.
Concerns over the outlook for the euro zone continued to weigh on sentiment after official data confirmed that the bloc’s economy contracted by 0.3% in the final three months of 2011, unchanged from a preliminary estimate. Annualized gross domestic product contracted by 0.7% in the fourth quarter.
Stocks had broadly rallied after a report on Monday showed the U.S. manufacturing sector expanded more-than-forecast in March, while official data from China on Sunday showed that manufacturing activity in the world’s second largest economy jumped to an 11-month high last month.
Netflix was one of the session’s top losers, with shares plunging 3.19% after Barclays downgraded the online movie streaming company to "equal weight" from "overweight," amid increasing competitive threats in the subscription video on demand market.
Financial stocks were also broadly lower amid rumors of potential downgrades of U.S. lenders including Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America by Moody’s rating agency.
Shares in JP Morgan dropped 0.89% and Goldman Sachs declined 0.86%, while Bank of America and Citigroup lost 0.52% and 0.49% respectively.
Moody’s had said in February that Morgan Stanley may be lowered three grades, adding that Citigroup and Bank of America could join the U.S. lender at Baa2, two levels above junk.
Elsewhere, GlaxoSmithKline saw shares edge down 0.07% after the company said it will push ahead with plans to file its experimental once-weekly diabetes drug albiglutide for regulatory approval, following the read-out from a series of clinical trials.
Also in the health care sector, Illumina shares were down 0.04% after its board unanimously rejected Roche Holding's increased offer to buy the genetic sequencing company for about USD6.7 billion, saying it dramatically undervalued the company.
On the upside, Apple shares gained 1.57% after JPMorgan raised its price target on the iPad maker to USD715 from USD625.
Meanwhile, Avon Products saw shares surge 1.10% after Coty disclosed it had offered USD10 billion for the U.S. personal care company which rejected the bid as too low and "opportunistic".
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 0.83%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.79%, Germany's DAX fell 0.33%, while Britain's FTSE 100 declined 0.29%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.7%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slumped 0.7%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce official data on factory orders, while the Federal Reserve was to release the minutes of its most recent policy meeting.