Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday, after remaining closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Day holiday, as a fresh round of fourth-quarter earnings reports dominated market sentiment.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.16%, the S&P 500 gained 0.55%, while the Nasdaq Composite index climbed 0.63%.
Investors remained cautious amid expectations for a reduction to the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program at the outcome of its next policy meeting on January 29 to USD65 billion from the current USD75 billion.
Earlier in the day, China’s central bank added CNY255 billion to the financial system and expanded a loan facility to meet Lunar New Year demand for cash, easing concerns over a credit squeeze.
In the tech sector, International Business Machines edged down 0.09% amid reports China's Lenovo Group is in discussions to acquire IBM's low-end server business. A deal could reportedly be signed within weeks.
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing jumped 1.27% as Jet Airways was said to be ready to place an order for 50 Boeing aircraft worth USD2.5 billion
Among financial stocks, JPMorgan Chase rose 0.26% after the U.S. lender said it quit working on Tianhe Chemicals Group’s planned USD1 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong amid a U.S. probe into hiring practices.
In earnings news, Verizon said fourth-quarter profit that topped expectations, but shares still tumbled 1.28%. The report came after the telecommunications company announced plans to purchase Intel's media division, which develops cloud TV products and services.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Johnson & Johnson, Verizon Communications, Delta Air, Halliburton and Rockwell Collins, scheduled to report fourth-quarter results throughout the trading session.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 advanced 0.66%, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.48%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.60%, while Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.19%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 0.45%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped 0.99%.