Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened mixed on Tuesday, as global growth concerns continued to weigh on sentiment, while investors eyed quarterly earnings reports to be published this week.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.26%, the S&P 500 index dipped 0.04%, while the Nasdaq Composite index added 0.23%.
Market sentiment remained under pressure amid ongoing uncertainty over Spain’s position on requesting external financial aid and what form a bailout would take.
Earlier in the day, the International Monetary Fund said the crisis in the euro zone remains the greatest threat to the global economy and warned that policymakers need to urgently strengthen fiscal and financial ties within the euro area.
Meanwhile, concerns over whether international creditors will extend loans to Greece continued, as the country struggles to meet deficit reduction targets.
After kicking off earnings season late on Tuesday, Alcoa plunged 3.40%, as it posted a quarterly profit before exceptional items that beat analyst expectations, but warned about a "slight slowdown" in some regions and end markets.
Also on the downside, oil and gas major Chevron tumbled 2.60% after the company said that third-quarter profits would be "substantially lower" than the previous quarter's, as a hurricane and maintenance curbed its oil and gas output and a fire hit its refining arm.
Elsewhere, Costco Wholesale surged 3.38%, after posting a 27% jump in fourth quarter profit, as sales continued to rise and it got a lift from higher membership fees.
Yum Brands also added to gains, with shares soaring 7.34% after the company raised its full-year outlook late on Tuesday, with sales in China holding up despite a cooling of economic growth in that market, the company's largest.
Meanwhile, FedEx saw shares rally 3.44%, boosted by plans to sharply cut costs at its underperforming express air freight and services divisions, as the company seeks to improve profits at those operations by USD1.7 billion over the next four years.
Separately, the Financial Times reported earlier that the European Union said it would object to UPS's EUR5.2 billion bid for Dutch rival TNT.
True Religion Apparel also posted sharp gains, as shares skyrocketed 23.42% after the jeans maker said it has formed a special committee of its board of directors to explore and evaluate potential strategic alternatives including a possible sale.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.35%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.15%, Germany's DAX slid 0.14%, while Britain's FTSE 100 declined 0.33%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped 0.08%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index plunged 1.98%.
Later in the day, the Federal Reserve was to publish its Beige Book.