U.S. stocks rise as Italy prepares to vote; Dow Jones up 0.32%

Investing.com - U.S. stocks edged higher on Tuesday, led by gains in the financial sector as markets awaited the results of Italy's crucial budget vote amid growing calls for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's resignation.

During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.32%, the S&P 500 index climbed 0.64%, while the Nasdaq Composite index advanced 0.87%.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government was to face a crunch vote, which would test the prime ministers majority in parliament and determine if he has enough support to stay in power and implement austerity measures.

Meanwhile, Greek leaders struggled to agree on the new head of an interim government as they faced growing pressure to strike a deal on a unity coalition as soon as possible with hopes of saving the country's finances.

U.S. lenders were broadly higher as Citigroup and Bank of America jumped 1.70% and 1.40% respectively, while shares in JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs climbed 1.31% and 1.19%.

Morgan Stanley saw shares climb 1.30%, although a group of investors has accused the firm of selling defective mortgage bonds in more than USD6 billion of trusts, signaling that it may face litigation over its involvement. 

Elsewhere, Priceline saw shares surge 3.84% after reporting third-quarter earnings of USD9.85 a share, excluding items, on sales of USD1.45 billion.

McDonald's advanced 0.31% after the fast-food giant posted a better-than-expected gain in October sales, thanks to its promotional Monopoly game in the U.S.

On the downside, Hewlett-Packard slipped 0.18% as it was looking to sell palm's webOS mobile software platform, while other software companies posted strong gains as Microsoft and Apple jumped 1.19% and 1.30% respectively, and Oracle Corp climbed 1.89%.

Telecommunication corporations were not far behind with Broadcom Corp advancing 0.73% and Research in Motion gaining 0.53%. 

Other stocks in focus included Activision Blizzard and Take Two, slated to report third-quarter results after the closing bell. 

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply higher. The EURO STOXX 50 jumped 2.79%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 2.57%, Germany's DAX advanced 2.35%, while Britain's FTSE 100 posted a 1.74% gain.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 0.5%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dropped 1.3%.

Also Tuesday, finance ministers from the European Union member states were to meet in Brussels to discuss the region’s ongoing financial crisis.