Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened moderately higher on Tuesday, as market sentiment strengthened after a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin, although the release of mixed U.S. economic reports limited gains.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.09%, the S&P 500 edged up 0.07%, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.13%.
Market sentiment improved after President Putin said that Russia isn't seeking "a partition of Ukraine", signaling that Russia's moves in Ukraine would be limited.
The speech came one day after the Russian president recognized the results of Sunday's referendum in Crimea, which saw a majority of voters chose to split from Ukraine.
Meanwhile, data showed that the annual rate of inflation in the U.S. slowed to 1.1% in February from 1.6% in January. Analysts had expected the annual inflation rate to decline to 1.2%. Month-on-month, consumer prices rose 0.1% in February, in line with forecasts.
Separately, the Commerce Department reported that the number of building permits issued in the U.S. rose to a four-month high in February, rebounding after a sharp drop in January. The number of building permits issued last month jumped 7.7% to 1.018 million units following a 16.8% fall in in January, as a result of severe winter weather.
However, U.S. housing starts fell 0.2% last month to hit a seasonally adjusted 907,000 units, disappointing expectations for an increase of 3.4% to 910,000 units.
In the tech sector, Microsoft climbed 0.79% following reports Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella will begin unveiling his vision for the company when he debuts a version of Office for Apple's iPad and offer some features of the application for free at an event next week.
Separately, U.S.-traded Sony shares tumbled 1.45% as it began a new round of job cuts at its entertainment division, in part of Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai’s effort to improve profitability at the unit.
Adding to losses, Wal-Mart fell 0.15% after saying that it would allow consumers to come into its stores, at 3,100 locations, and trade-in used video games for an eGift card for use on any item sold in Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores and online.
Elsewhere, Amazon advanced 0.82%, even as a company survey measuring brand engagement and customer loyalty showed that the online retailer's rating fell from 93% to 83% following a price hike announced last week.
Last Thursday, Amazon announced that it would raise the price of its Prime membership from $79 to $99.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 gained 0.61%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.77%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.50%, while Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.21%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 0.51%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped 0.94%.