Investors awaited quarterly results from Intel Corp and Johnson & Johnson , both due on Tuesday, with results due later in the week from Citigroup , Bank of America , Goldman Sachs , JPMorgan , Google , IBM and General Electric .

The banking sector will be in the spotlight on Tuesday after prominent U.S. banking analyst Meredith Whitney downgraded its rating on Goldman Sachs to "neutral" from "buy." Goldman stock traded in Frankfurt was down 1.7 percent.

Home furnishings retailer Pier 1 Imports Inc said sales at established stores rose 9.9 percent in September and merchandise margins continue to improve, sending its shares up 12 percent in extended trade. Shares of Pier 1 Imports traded in Frankfurt were up 14 percent.

American International Group struck a deal to sell its Taiwan life insurance unit for $2.15 billion, marking its largest disposal of a division since a government bailout last year saved it from collapse.

CIT Group Inc is seeing little interest from bondholders in a debt exchange offer aimed at repairing its fragile balance sheet, making bankruptcy increasingly likely, sources familiar with the matter said.

Bank of America Corp agreed to hand over documents that detail the legal advice it received during its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co, The Wall Street Journal said, a reversal after months of resisting such a move.

On the macro side, the head of the World Trade Organization said on Tuesday a contraction in global trade appears to be bottoming out.

Oil rose for the fourth straight session on Tuesday, edging above $73 a barrel on the back of rising optimism about the pace of global economic recovery and weakness in the dollar.

Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> edged up 0.6 percent on Tuesday, buoyed by exporters such as Honda Motor Corp <7267.T>, while European stocks were down 0.5 percent in early trade, trimming the previous session's gains, with banks such as Barclays , Credit Suisse and Banco Santander all down.

The S&P 500 managed a sixth consecutive day of gains on Monday to end at its closing high for the year as energy shares rose alongside the price of oil. But the market lost some strength in the afternoon and the Dow and Nasdaq ended little changed as investors opted to lock in profits before the results reporting season picks up steam.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> added 20.86 points, or 0.21 percent, to 9,885.80. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 4.70 points, or 0.44 percent, to 1,076.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was off 0.14 point, or 0.01 percent, to 2,139.14.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Greg Mahlich)