Stocks Opened Slightly Higher; IMF Cut U.S. Forecast

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Tuesday after worries about the financial health of European banking giant Deutsche Bank. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately climbed 48.24 points, or 0.26%, to 18,302.09. The S&P 500 rose 3.05 points, or 0.14%, to 2,164.25. The Nasdaq Composite added 19.73 points, or 0.37%, to 5,320.61.

In its latest report on the global economic outlook, the IMF’s trimmed its forecast for U.S. growth this year by 0.6% and next year by 0.3%, and noted that the Federal Reserve has so far judged a second interest rate increase as too risky.

Oil futures pulled back from three-month highs in trading Tuesday following a rally fueled by rising optimism over a possible OPEC supply deal. Light, sweet crude futures for delivery in November traded at $48.48 a barrel, down 33 cents, or 0.7%. December Brent crude fell 29 cents, or 0.6%, to $50.60 a barrel.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced Tuesday it was expanding its strategic partnership with ABB (Swiss Exchange: ABBN-CH), just as the Swiss engineering firm was rebuffing investor calls to split up its business.

Darden Restaurants Inc. posted stronger-than-expected earnings in its latest quarter. In the three months ended in August, Darden’s overall same-store sales grew 1.3%. The company now expects per-share profit of $3.87 to $3.97, up from its prior range of $3.80 to $3.90 a share.