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US markets traded higher for most of Tuesday before a late sell-off saw the major indices close to where they started. Much of the enthusiasm stemmed from a commitment by Greece to cut its budget and pay down debt, while ongoing M&A action also helped.

Investors were also cautious ahead of a raft of economic data expected out later this week, including the important jobs data on Friday.

The Dow Jones rose 2.19 points, or 0.02%, to 10,405.98, the S&P 500 gained 2.60 points, or 0.23%, to 1,118.31 and the NASDAQ picked up 7.22 points, or 0.32%, to 2,280.79.

Banks tended higher but were mixed overall. Citigroup edged 0.3% higher, while Wells Fargo added 1.9%.

Goldman Sachs gained 1.4%, although Bank of America gave up 1.5%

Tech stocks were mixed, with sector heavyweights Hewlett Packard and Microsoft down 0.8% and 1.9% respectively.

Search engine Google gained 1.6%, while rival Yahoo! lost 0.4%.

Qualcomm rallied 6.7% after boosting its dividend by 12% and saying it would buy back $3 billion of its own shares.

Sara Lee added 1.2% after saying it would buy back $500 million in stock.

Domino’s Pizza, which is also listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, rallied 5.1% after beating earnings estimates.

Ford shares slid 1.5% on weak auto sales. This came despite news that February sales surged 43% for the company, pushing it into first place among the carmakers after Toyota sales weakened 9% on its well-publicised problems.

NYMEX light crude oil for April delivery rose US98c to settle at US$79.68 a barrel.

Exxon Mobil added just 0.1%, while Chevron tacked on 0.7%.

COMEX gold for April delivery gained US$19.10 to settle at US$1,137.40 per ounce.

European Markets

All eyes were on Europe with Greece promising to cut US$6.5 billion in expenditure sending markets there, and globally, higher. Some European markets hit six-week highs, led by mining stocks as commodity prices firmed.

The UK benchmark FTSE 100 advanced 78.12, or 1.45% to 5,484.06, while the French CAC40 added 42.38, or 1.12% to 3,811.92. The German DAX gained 63.05, or 1.10% to 5,776.56.

The financial institutions across Europe also got a shot in the arm. National Bank of Greece SA, the nation’s biggest lender, gained 3.5%.

UK banks Barclays, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland advanced 3.1%, 2.7% and 2.9% respectively.

In France, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale put on 0.7% and 1.8% respectively.

Deutsche Bank gained 1.1%.   

It wasn’t all good news, with Prudential slumping 8% following its decision to buy AIA Group for US$35.5 billion in cash and stock. Its shares lost 12% the day before.

Alliance & Leicester shed 7.7%.

Among the autos, Peugeot put on 3.4% after its CEO said the start of the year had been better than expected. Rival Renault added 2.6%.

Carmakers were the biggest gaining sector overall, with Volkswagen and Daimler up 2.1% and 1.3%.

Among the miners, Aussie companies BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto added 2.2% and 2.4%. Base metal prices on the London Metals Exchange extended gains from the previous session.

Anglo American was 2.8% stronger.

Elsewhere Luxottica Group lost 4.5%. The owner of Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses said net income fell 17% last year.

Japanese Markets

Japan’s Nikkei rose as tech stocks were boosted by an increase in chip sales. The market moved into the red early in the session as mixed data out of the US concerned investors.

The Nikkei 225 added 49.78, or 0.49% to 10,221.84.

Sumco led gains among chip-related stocks, climbing 4.6%. Elpida Memory, Advantest Corp and Tokyo Electron gained between 2% and 2.3%.

Sony put on 1.3%, while Canon and Panasonic added 0.8% each.

Nintendo rallied 3.1% on reports the company has sold over 10 million Wii consoles in Japan since being released just over three years ago.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Toshiba Corp advanced 1.8% and 2% on media reports the Japanese government is considering providing financial support for the consortium that is aiming to win a US$19.1 billion project for a Brazilian high-speed railway.

Other partners Mitsui & Co and Hitachi gained 1.1% and 0.7%.

Astellas Pharma fell 2.1% after launching a takeover bid for U.S.-based OSI Pharmaceuticals.

Homebuilder Sekisui House jumped 3.3% after forecasting a return to profit.

Hong Kong Markets

The Hang Seng was just about the only major global index to lose ground Tuesday. The loss was largely due to HSBC, which makes up one-sixth of the market, slumping 6.9% after missing estimates, despite posting a 1.9% rise in profit last year.

The Hang Seng shed 150.82, or 0.72% to 20,906.11.

Meanwhile Hang Seng Bank, majority owned by HSBC, shed 4.8%.

Bank of China rallied 1.3%, while heavyweight lender ICBC added 1.6%.

Li & Fung, which supplies clothes to Wal-Mart in the US, surged 3.8%. Consumer spending in the US rose for the fourth straight month.

Off-shore oil producer Cnooc fell 1% as crude prices eased in New York.

Jiangxi Copper slipped 1.6% after investors booked gains from yesterday.

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