Forexpros – U.S. stocks were mixed on Tuesday, after data showed that U.S. house prices fell more-than-expected in February, while concerns over the debt crisis in the euro zone continued to weigh on market sentiment.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.49%, the S&P 500 index added 0.23%, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 0.18%.
Data showed that the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index fell more-than-expected in February, declining for the 20th consecutive month as U.S. home prices fell to the lowest level since 2002.
Standard & Poor’s with Case-Shiller said its house price index fell 3.5% in February from a year earlier, compared to expectations for a 3.4% decline. U.S. home prices in January fell by an unrevised 3.8%.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious after an auction of Spanish short term government debt saw the country’s borrowing costs almost double, while Italy’s borrowing costs rose to the highest level since January after an auction of government bills.
Market sentiment was supported however after The Netherlands successfully auctioned EUR1.99 billion of two and 25-year government bonds.
Texas Instruments was one of the session’s top gainers, with shares jumping 1.10% after the chip maker forecast second-quarter revenue growth ahead of estimates, signaling the end of a prolonged inventory-related decline in demand.
Also in earnings, telecommunications giant AT&T surged 3.17% and mining group 3M jumped 2.24% after both companies posted better-than-expected quarterly profits.
Boeing added to gains, rising 0.23% as it pulled ahead of Airbus in a race to win an aircraft order potentially worth more than USD15 billion at list value with United Continental Holdings. However, intense negotiations still lie ahead to close a deal.
Elsewhere, shares in Yahoo Inc. climbed 0.46% as its talks with Yahoo Japan Corp. for a share buyback ended with no agreement, but the companies left open the possibility of further negotiations.
Meanwhile, financial stocks were mixed, as shares in Citigroup lost 0.33% and Goldman Sachs fell 0.19%, while Bank of America and JP Morgan added 0.49% and 0.28% respectively.
On the downside, Illumina saw shares decline 0.21% after it fended off a hostile takeover bid by Swiss drug maker Roche Holding. The company also reported on Monday a higher-than-expected first-quarter profit and maintained its full-year forecast.
Other stocks in focus included Apple, as the iPhone maker was slated to post earnings after-the-bell.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.79%, France’s CAC 40 jumped 1.33%, Germany’s DAX advanced 0.55%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.29%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index eased up 0.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slumped 0.8%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a Conference Board report on consumer confidence and government data on new home sales.