Stocks Opened Up on Lifted Sentiment

U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday, with sentiment lifted after a successful government debt auction in Spain and upbeat economic data from Germany. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 103.31 points to 12,124.70. The S&P 500 Index advanced 11.05 points to 1,247.52. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 23.90 points to 2,636.16.

The ZEW indicator of economic sentiment for Germany rose by 1.4 points to minus-53.8 in December, breaking a nine-month downward trend.  Also boosting sentiment, the Spanish Treasury sold more short-term paper than ithad planned at an auction Tuesday.

Retail sales rose less than expected in November as a drop in receipts for food and beverages weighed against stronger sales of motor vehicles, tempering some of the expectations of a strong holiday shopping season. Total retail sales increased 0.2 percent after rising by an upwardly revised 0.6 percent in October, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday.

Electronics retailer Best Buy said Tuesday that its third-quarter net income fell 29 percent as it cut prices in popular categories such as tablets and TVs to drive sales and traffic during the busy holiday season. Net income for the three months ended Nov. 26 fell to $154 million, or 42 cents per share. That compares with $217 million, or 54 cents per share, last year.

Washington Mutual Inc, the biggest bank to fail in U.S. history, said it reached a settlement in a dispute between shareholders and certain creditors that had prevented the bank from emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

Apple Inc is in talks to buy Israel’s Anobit, a maker of flash storage technology, for as much as $500 million, according to a report published on Tuesday.