Stocks Rally as Ukraine Tension Eases

U.S. stocks opened sharply higher on Tuesday as comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled the Ukraine crisis won’t immediately escalate. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately added 173.99 points, or 1.08%, to 16,342.02. The S&P 500 was up 20.86 points, or 1.13%, at 1,866.59. The Nasdaq Composite rose 58.31 points, or 1.36%, at 4,335.61.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia reserves the right to use force in Ukraine to protect Russian-speaking residents there and called the toppling of former President Viktor Yanukovych’s government an “unconstitutional coup.” In his first detailed comments since Russian troops entered the restive Ukrainian region of Crimea, Putin insisted the presence of soldiers there was simply to defend the Russian military installation on the peninsula that is home to its Black Sea Fleet, but said he saw no need to send forces into eastern Ukraine yet.

RadioShack Corp. (RSH) will close as many as 1,100 stores—a fifth of its total— after a sharp drop in sales over the holidays left it with a loss of $400 million last year. The deep cuts underscore the difficulty the retailer of electronic parts and gadgets has had adapting to modern trends in the business.

Apple Inc said Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer would retire at the end of September. Luca Maestri, Apple’s vice president of finance and corporate controller, will succeed 51-year-old Oppenheimer as CFO, reporting to Chief Executive Tim Cook.

President Barack Obama will propose an expansion of popular tax credits for middle class and working poor Americans on Tuesday in a fiscal 2015 budget designed to serve as a blueprint for Democrats.