Respite On Wall Street Despite Oil Collapse -- U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks were narrowly mixed Tuesday, trimming a sliver of heavy recent losses amid hopes for stimulus from China's central bank.

China's government said the nation's economic growth rate eased to 6.8 percent for the fourth quarter and 6.9 percent for 2015.

Beijing is expected to offer stimulus as the economic growth was the slowest in many years.

The S&P 500 closed a point higher at 1,881.36. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 27.80 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,015.88. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite was down 11.47 points, or 0.3 percent, at 4,476.95.

Plunging oil prices prevented a more robust rebound.

Feb. WTI oil settles at $28.46/bbl on Nymex, down 96 cents, or 3.3 percent -- the lowest since 2003.

Bank of America (BAC) reported fourth-quarter net income that rose from last year and topped the amount analysts were predicting. Revenue rose 4 percent. BoA stock lost 1.5 percent.

Morgan Stanley (MS) also reported quarterly results. The Wall Street bank revealed a profit for the fourth-quarter, compared to a loss in the prior year. Last year's results included several significant charges. Shares rpse 1.2 percent.

Tiffany & Co. (TIF) reported that its worldwide net sales for the two-month holiday period dropped 6 percent compared to last year. The jewelry retailer also cut its fiscal year 2015 net earnings outlook. Shares dropped 5 percent.

Healthcare and consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) said it is restructuring its Medical Devices businesses. The stock nudged higher.

Netflix (NFLX) shares slipped 3.7 percent ahead of Q4 earnings report.

Twitter (TWTR) shares dropped 7 percent after reported outages overnight.

On the economic front, the National Association of Home Builders' gauge of homebuilder sentiment was unchanged at 60 in January, but the December reading was revised slightly lower.