Stocks Opened Mostly Higher ahead of Key Data

U.S. stocks opened mostly higher on Tuesday, ahead of important economic data, as investors weighed the chances of an interest rate hike following a lackluster jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately added 29.11 points, or 0.16%, to 18,521.07. The S&P 500 gained 2.14 points, or 0.10%, to 2,182.12. The Nasdaq Composite rose 15.71 points, or 0.30%, to 5,265.60.

Top Federal Reserve officials, encouraged by a string of strong economic data, had hinted that a rate hike could come as early as this month. On the data front, the final Markit services PMI is due out at 9.45 a.m. ET, followed by the ISM non-manufacturing data, set to come out at 10 a.m. ET.

Oil slipped below $47 a barrel on Tuesday, falling further from the previous session’s one-week high on receding hopes for imminent action to tackle a global supply glut. Brent crude for November was down 87 cents at $46.76 a barrel by 1304 GMT. U.S. crude for October, which did not settle on Monday due to the Labor Day holiday, was at $44.19, down 25 cents from Friday’s close.

China rallied the Group of 20 around a call to use new levers to revive global growth, though the group’s nine-page statement was short on concrete steps and there were few signs that Beijing would lead by example.

German pharmaceutical and crop chemicals manufacturer Bayer AG says talks with Monsanto Co have advanced and it is now willing to offer more than $65 billion, a 2 percent increase on its previous offer for the world’s largest seeds company.

Danaher (DHR) said on Tuesday it would buy molecular diagnostics company Cepheid in a deal valued at $4 billion, including debt, to strengthen its diagnostics business. Danaher will pay $53 per share in cash, a premium of 54% to Cepheid’s close of $34.42 on Friday.