Business Day|Dow Industrials Climb Higher on News of Strong Sales at GM

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United States stock indexes opened slightly higher on Tuesday as the market rebounded from a loss the day before.

Avanir Pharmaceuticals jumped 13 percent after the company agreed to be acquired by Otsuka Pharmaceutical for $3.5 billion in cash.

Royal Caribbean rose 4 percent after the company was added to the Standard & Poor's 500 index, replacing the packaging maker Bemis.

KEEPING SCORE The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.18 percent and the S.&P. 500 was up 0.17 percent. The Nasdaq composite index gained 0.28 percent.

OVERSEAS MARKETS In Germany, the DAX was flat and in France, the CAC 40 rose 0.5 percent. The FTSE 100 was up 1.1 percent in Britain.

OIL IN FOCUS Much of the focus in markets over recent days has been the precipitous decline in the price of oil. The front-month United States crude futures contract was down a further 33 cents at $68.67 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Monday, it jumped $2.85 to close at an even $69 as it rebounded from a rout that had knocked about $40 off the price of a barrel of crude since June. Analysts still expect oil prices to remain weak given OPEC's decision last week to maintain its current production targets. That, combined with rising production in the United States, has created an oversupplied oil market.

RUSSIA FALLOUT The drop in oil prices from above $100 a barrel to below $70 over the last few months is putting stress on oil-exporting nations, Russia particularly, which is already under strain from Western sanctions over its backing of the rebellion in eastern Ukraine. Russia's ruble fell another 4 percent while the country's RTS stock market dropped 2 percent.

ANALYST TAKE 'The economic conditions Russia is facing right now are aggressively against its economy,' said Jameel Ahmad, chief market analyst for FXTM.

GLOBAL FEARS Traders have a raft of economic news to digest in the rest of the week. As well as several United States economic reports, which culminate with Friday's nonfarm payrolls report for November, traders will be closely monitoring the European Central Bank policy meeting on Thursday. Already this week, there have been some weak data points out of China, Europe and the United States. And Japan has had its credit rating downgraded by Moody's.

ASIA'S DAY The Nikkei 225 closed up 0.4 percent in Japan, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 1.2 percent. The Kospi was little changed in South Korea. In Australia, the S.&P./ASX 200 rose 1.4 percent.

CURRENCIES The dollar was in the ascendant across the board, particularly against the yen which continued to suffer in the wake of the Moody's downgrade. The United States currency was up 0.8 percent at 119.20 yen, a level it has not reached in over seven years. The euro was in the retreat ahead of the European Central Bank meeting, trading 0.5 percent lower at $1.2416.