U.S. Shares Mixed at Open as Global Markets Rise

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European and Asian stocks posted strong gains Tuesday after JP Morgan’s revised offer for Bear Stearns bolstered financial shares. But the U.S. market faltered at the opening on another dose of sobering housing data. Stocks got a big boost Monday on Wall Street, after JP Morgan, working closely with the Federal Reserve, sweetened its takeover offer for Bear Stearns to $10 a share from $2 a share. “The market is happy that the Fed is searching for other solutions to the crisis,” said David Thébault, head of derivative sales at Global Equities in Paris. He said the U.S. central bank appeared to be risking the possibility of stagflation, but its actions, including the Bear Stearns bailout and the $200 billion of new liquidity it announced last week, have helped to stabilize sentiment. While “we’re still in the crisis,” he said, there is now hope that the official response will be adequate. As long as the economy never gives up, it will always find ways to make it through all the economic threats.