US stocks mostly higher, GE rises on finance deal

US stocks opened mostly higher Tuesday as General Electric announced a $12 billion deal to sell its private equity finance arm to a Canadian buyer.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17,793.71, up 27.16 points (0.15 percent).

The broad-based S&P 500 added 2.67 (0.13 percent) at 2,081.95, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 4.49 (0.09 percent) to 5,017.13.

Dow member GE was up 0.3 percent after announcing the sale of a pair of finance assets to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for $12 billion. GE in April announced plans to sell most of its banking business to refocus on heavy industry and infrastructure.

Equity markets in Britain, France and Germany were all lower as Greece submitted a new reform plan to creditors while Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras warned the lack of a deal would lead to the collapse of the eurozone.