NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks managed to finish in the black on Tuesday but gains were unremarkable.

With inflationary pressures building, as reflected in the recent price rises in the bond market, some are seeing that as a sign the U.S. Federal Reserve may begin scaling back its accommodative stance, and assets purchasing, but not everyone shares that view.

"Despite the fact that some commentators are arguing that there may be movement towards less accommodation in the Fed's asset purchases and forward guidance, the data just doesn't support any moves to reduce the degree of policy accommodation the Committee has put in place nor any or changes in guidance at this next meeting," Robert Eisenbeis, chief monetary economist at Cumberland Advisors, was reported by MarketWatch as saying in a note to clients on Tuesday.

The Dow Jones industrials advanced 60.00 points or 0.19 percent to 31,068.69.

The Standard and Poor's 500 added 1.58 points or 0.04 percent to 3,801.19.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 31.00 points or 0.28 percent to 13,072.43.

While the U.S. dollar picked up steam at the start of the week, the overall weakness in the currency has seen the rally short-lived. On Tuesday the greenback was back under pressure.

The euro shot up to 1.2204. The British pound was sharply higher at 1.3663. The Japanese yen advanced nearly half-a-cent to 103.77. The Swiss franc firmed to 0.8865.

The Canadian dollar strengthened to 1.2713. The Australian dollar rose to 0.7773. The New Zealand dollar did best, gaining nearly a full cent to 0.7226.

In Europe, the Dax in Germany was down 0.08 percent. The Paris-based CAC 40 declined 0.20 percent.

London's FTSE 100 was down 0.65 percent.

On Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 made a modest gain, adding 25.31 points or 0.09 percent to 28,164.34.

The Australian All Ordinaries fell 20.40 points or 0.29 percent to 6,939.10.

China's Shanghai Composite was the big gainer on the day, adding 76.84 points or 2.18 percent to 3,608.34.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rose 368.53 points or 1.32 percent to 28,276.75.