Investing - Stocks opened mixed Tuesday as investors took a pause following the strong rally in the previous session and digested more tensions in the EU over Italy’s budget.
The Dow rose 7.26, or 0.03%, to 26,658.47, while the broader S&P 500 index fell 2.62, or 0.09%, to 2,921.97. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 25.04, or 0.31%, to 8,012.26.
Italy is not backing down from its plan of a budget with a deficit of 2.4% of economic output and coalition leaders have threatened to sue EU officials.
Italy’s FTSE MIB was down about 0.1%. Germany’s DAX fell 0.7%, while in France the CAC 40 decreased 0.6% and in London, the FTSE 100 was down 0.3%. The pan-European EURO STOXX 50 lost 0.8%.
U.S. bank stocks were unfazed by the EU worries and a fall in Treasury yields. JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) were all up at the start.
Financials could also see some activity at 12:00 PM ET (16:00 GMT) when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks.
Energy stocks slipped on some profit-taking, despite crude oil rising slightly in morning trading.
ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) fell 0.2% and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) lost 1.2%.
Among other active stocks, PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) stock fell 1.4% after the company reported quarterly revenue above expectations, but guidance looked light.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) lost 0.7% after the company announced it was raising the minimum wage for U.S. workers to $15 an hour.
And Kroger (NYSE:KR) rose 1.2% after the company announced it was testing grocery pickup at Walgreens (NASDAQ:WBA).
