U.S. stocks eke out modest gains amid global growth concerns

U.S. stocks managed to end slightly higher Tuesday after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its global economic forecast for the next two years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 3.66 points, or 0.02 percent, to 17,515.23. The S&P 500 climbed 3.13 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,022.55. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 20.46 points, or 0.44 percent, to 4,654.85.

The IMF lowered its global economic growth forecast to 3.5 percent and 3.7 percent for 2015 and 2016 respectively on Tuesday. The global growth rates in 2015-2016 represented both downward revisions of 0.3 percentage relative to the October 2014 World Economic Outlook, the IMF's flagship report said.

Meanwhile, China's economy grew 7.4 percent in 2014, the weakest annual expansion in 24 years, China's National Bureau of Statistics reported Tuesday.

Oil prices plunged Tuesday after the IMF cut its global growth outlook. Light, sweet crude for February delivery plummeted 2.3 U. S. dollars to settle at 46.39 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In corporate news, Morgan Stanley shares fell 0.4 percent to 34. 75 dollars apiece after the company reported net revenues of 7.76 billion U.S. dollars for the fourth quarter of 2014, down 1 percent from 7.85 billion dollars a year ago.

Johnson & Johnson, the world's famous maker of health care products, tumbled 2.64 percent to 101.29 dollars a share, after the company delivered adjusted quarterly earnings above expectations and revenues shy of forecasts.

Latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that S&P 500 companies' per-share earnings in the fourth quarter are expected to grow 3.4 percent year on year, while revenue growth is forecast to increase 0.9 percent.

However, investor sentiment was bolstered by the speculation that the European Central Bank (ECB) could expand its monetary stimulus by announcing a government bond buying program at a meeting on Thursday.

Overseas markets saw broad gains Tuesday as expectations were growing on the ECB action. Chinese Shanghai Composite Index rebounded 1.82 percent after the benchmark Index slumped 7.7 percent in the previous session.