US stocks finished with slight gains on Tuesday as investors greeted corporate merger activity. Receding fears over the Greek debt crisis also added to the positive tone.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.19 points or 0.02% to finish at 10,405.98. The S&P 500 climbed 2.60 points or 0.23% to close at 1,118.31. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 7.22 points or 0.32% to 2,280.79.
Technology shares retreated. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:
MSFT) plunged 56 cents or 1.93% to $28.46. IBM (NYSE: IBM) slid $1.15 or 0.89% to $127.42. Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) lost 17 cents or 0.83% to close at $20.70. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:
HPQ) slipped 42 cents or 0.81% to $51.12.
Shares of Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:
BAC) slumped 25 cents or 1.50% to $16.46.
Among gainers, shares of Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:
DIS) rose 34 cents or 1.08% to $31.88.
Early on Tuesday, AutoZone Inc. (NYSE:
AZO) announced that its fiscal second-quarter net income climbed 6.4% to $123.3 million, or $2.46 a share, from $115.9 million, or $2.03 a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue increased to $1.51 billion from $1.45 billion. Shares of the company fell $1.26 or 0.76% to $164.74.
Shares of Staples Inc. (NASDAQ:
SPLS) sank $2.61 or 10.09% after it reported Tuesday that its fourth-quarter net income declined to $233.91 million or $0.32 per share, compared to $286.05 million, or $0.40 per share, in the comparable quarter last year. Adjusted earnings per share rose 6% to $0.38 from the $0.36 in the same quarter of last year. Revenue increased to $6.41 billion from $6.17 billion.
Meanwhile, CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE:
CF) on Tuesday made a fresh offer to buy fertilizer firm Terra Industries Inc. (NYSE:
TRA) for $37.15 in cash and 0.0953 of a share of CF Industries common stock for each Terra share. The new offer has a total value of $47.40 per share based on CF Industries closing price on Monday. Shares of Terra Industries soared $4.47 or 10.85% to end at $45.67.
Ford (NYSE:
F) on Tuesday reported a 43% increase in U.S. sales in February. Shares of the automaker declined 19 cents or 1.53% to $12.22.
Late on Monday, Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ:
QCOM) announced that its board approved increasing the quarterly dividend by 11.8% to 19 cents a share and a new $3 billion stock buyback plan. Shares of the company rallied $2.37 or 6.66% to $37.93.
MBIA Inc. (NYSE:
MBI) said late Monday that its fourth-quarter net loss narrowed to $242 million, or $1.16 a share, compared with a net loss of $1.2 billion, or $5.21 a share, in the year-ago period. Shares fell 4 cents or 0.83% to $4.76.
European stocks settled up. The UK FTSE gained 78.12 points or 1.45% to 5,484.06. The German DAX and French CAC increased 1.10% and 1.12% respectively.
Asian stocks finished mixed. The Nikkei 225 rose 49.78 points or 0.49% to close at 10,221.84. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong lost 150.82 points or 0.72% to 20,906.11.
NYMEX crude oil for April delivery climbed 98 cents or 1.3% to settle at $79.68 a barrel.
Disclosure: Author doesn't own any of the stocks discussed here.
