Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened steady in light trade on Tuesday, as markets recovered from Monday's record closes as upbeat U.S. employment data and the European Central Bank's latest policy statement continued to support.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow 30 dipped 0.04%, the S&P 500 slipped 0.11%, while the NASDAQ Composite inched down 0.03%.
Market sentiment improved after the ECB unveiled last week a package of measures to avert the threat of persistently low inflation in the euro area.
Meanwhile, U.S. employment data released last Friday fuelled further optimism over the strength of the job market's recovery.
The Department of Labor reported that the U.S. economy added 217,000 jobs last month, just under expectations for jobs growth of 218,000, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at a five-and-a-half year low of 6.3%.
In the tech sector, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares gained 0.88% after the iPhone maker's first day of trading after a seven-for-one stock split.
Separately, Apple was reportedly preparing to sell its first wearable device in October, with a production target of 3 million to 5 million smartwatches a month in its first run.
Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) slipped 0.27% on the other hand, after saying it will be using water as a new cooling system for its computers in order to reduce the amount of energy needed to power fans that stop them from overheating.
Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) added to losses, down 0.30%, as the company was said to be in talks to acquire a stake in Vice Media, a firm that combines punk culture with online journalism.
Elsewhere, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) advanced 0.75% as it was set to start managing subscription payments for start-ups and other companies, taking another step against the company's e-commerce rival PayPal.
Also among Internet-related companies, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) jumped 1.06% after shareholders voted against splitting up the online entertainment company's chairman and CEO roles, which are both currently held by Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed to higher. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 added 0.15%, France’s CAC 40 edged up 0.10%, Germany's DAX rose 0.13%, while Britain's FTSE 100 declined 0.48%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.86%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.85%.