Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday, as investors eyed the release of upcoming U.S. consumer confidence data, as well as the Federal Reserve's monthly policy statement due on Wednesday.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow 30 gained 0.48%, the S&P 500 climbed 0.45%, while the NASDAQ Composite advanced 0.48%.
Earlier Tuesday, Standard & Poor’s with Case-Shiller said its house price index rose at an annualized rate of 12.9% in February from a year earlier, compared to forecasts for a 13% gain and following a rise of 13.2% in January.
Month-on-month, U.S. home prices were little changed in February after dipping 0.1% in the preceding month.
In the telecom sector, mobile-phone carrier AT&T (NYSE:T) jumped 0.97% after saying it is preparing to introduce 4G LTE wireless Internet access to commercial flights.
On the downside, LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD) plummeted 1.27% following reports the company's Chief Executive Officer Jeff Weiner’s total compensation rose more than 40-fold to $49.1 million last year.
The news came after the stock dropped over 6% on Monday, amid reports investors are questioning whether Web companies can keep up revenue expansion, as some show signs of slowing gains in the number of users.
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) added to losses, down 0.12%, as the drugmaker was said to be considering reducing its tax bill by moving its legal address outside the U.S. The U.S. company made headlines last week after confirming its willingness to acquire London-based Astrazeneca (AZN.LONDON) for about £58.8 billion.
In earnings news, Merck & Company (NYSE:MRK) posted quarterly results that exceeded analysts' estimates, but said revenue fell just under expectations. Shares jumped 1.64% at the open of the U.S. trading session.
Sprint (NYSE:S) suged 2.15% after the wireless carrier reported a smaller-than-expected loss in the first quarter.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY), Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) and Dreamworks Animation (NASDAQ:DWA), scheduled to report quarterly results throughout the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply higher. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 jumped 1.17%, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.64%, Germany's DAX rallied 1.21%, while Britain's FTSE 100 advanced 0.69%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.45%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 remained closed for a national holiday.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish a report compiled by the Conference Board on consumer confidence.