Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened sharply higher on Tuesday, as fears of an imminent U.S. military intervention in Syria eased, although expectations for the Federal Reserve to soon begin scaling back its stimulus program continued to linger.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.76%, the S&P 500 index jumped 1.04%, while the Nasdaq Composite index rallied 1.11%.
U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday said that he has not made a final decision on a response to Syria's chemical weapons use, but that he is looking at limited action, not an open-ended commitment.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious amid expectations that the Fed will start to unwind its stimulus program at its upcoming policy meeting on September 18.
Investors were looking ahead to Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report which is seen as central to the Fed’s decision on tapering.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as Bank of America jumped 1.77% and Citigroup surged 2.46%, while JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs gained 2.04% and 2.17% respectively.
Elsewhere, CBS Corp. shares climbed 4.21% after the TV channel's programs returned to Time Warner Cable in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas as the companies ended a one-month blackout, in time for the start of National Football League regular-season games.
Time Warner Cable shares rallied 1.62% following the news.
On the downside, Verizon Communications plummeted 3.99% after agreeing to buy Vodafone's 45% stake in Verizon Wireless for USD130 billion.
According to a Bloomberg report, Verizon Communications is expected to issue USD40 billion to USD50 billion of bonds to help finance the purchase.
Microsoft plunged 4.58% after the software giant announced that it had agreed to buy Nokia's handset business for EUR5.44 billion.
The deal changes the nature of both companies, as Nokia is exiting from the mobile-phone business while Microsoft is moving into hardware.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included H&R Block, scheduled to report second-quarter earnings later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 dipped 0.02%, France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.17%, Germany's DAX fell 0.25%, while Britain's FTSE 100 edged down 0.11%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.99%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index surged 2.99%.
Later in the day, the Institute of Supply Management was to release data on manufacturing activity.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.76%, the S&P 500 index jumped 1.04%, while the Nasdaq Composite index rallied 1.11%.
U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday said that he has not made a final decision on a response to Syria's chemical weapons use, but that he is looking at limited action, not an open-ended commitment.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious amid expectations that the Fed will start to unwind its stimulus program at its upcoming policy meeting on September 18.
Investors were looking ahead to Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report which is seen as central to the Fed’s decision on tapering.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as Bank of America jumped 1.77% and Citigroup surged 2.46%, while JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs gained 2.04% and 2.17% respectively.
Elsewhere, CBS Corp. shares climbed 4.21% after the TV channel's programs returned to Time Warner Cable in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas as the companies ended a one-month blackout, in time for the start of National Football League regular-season games.
Time Warner Cable shares rallied 1.62% following the news.
On the downside, Verizon Communications plummeted 3.99% after agreeing to buy Vodafone's 45% stake in Verizon Wireless for USD130 billion.
According to a Bloomberg report, Verizon Communications is expected to issue USD40 billion to USD50 billion of bonds to help finance the purchase.
Microsoft plunged 4.58% after the software giant announced that it had agreed to buy Nokia's handset business for EUR5.44 billion.
The deal changes the nature of both companies, as Nokia is exiting from the mobile-phone business while Microsoft is moving into hardware.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included H&R Block, scheduled to report second-quarter earnings later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 dipped 0.02%, France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.17%, Germany's DAX fell 0.25%, while Britain's FTSE 100 edged down 0.11%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.99%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index surged 2.99%.
Later in the day, the Institute of Supply Management was to release data on manufacturing activity.