U.S. Stocks End Mixed; Nasdaq Leads Index Gains
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks on Tuesday turned mixed to cap a daylong struggle to extend a two-day rally that had the Dow rising nearly 450 points, as investors weighed Monsanto Co.'s improved forecast against downbeat data on housing and consumer sentiment.
"I think this is the start of a market that is trying to consolidate; that has put in a bottom," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners. .
Off almost 100 points earlier on, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 16.04 points to settle at 12,532.60, with 17 of its 30 components trading lower, with the losses led by Bank of America Corp. , down 3.5%, and Home Depot Inc. , off 1.7%.
Off the Dow, shares of Monsanto gained almost 10% after the St. Louis company lifted its projected earnings for 2008. .
Technology stocks showed some signs of life, with Yahoo Inc. shares gaining 4.4% after Citigroup hiked its rating on the stock. .
The S&P 500 Index gained 3.11 points to 1,352.99, while the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 14.3 points to 2,341.05.
Volume on the New York Stock Exchange topped 4 billion, and advancing stocks outran those declining nearly 2 to 1. On the Nasdaq, nearly 2.1 billion shares were exchanged, and advancing stocks topped those declining 9 to 5.
Home prices, confidence down
Alternately up and down since the opening bell, the major stock indexes had extended early losses after the Conference Board reported U.S. consumers' confidence fell in March. .
"The recent credit crisis has led to much broader and larger structural issues that will now confront the economy, thereby making future economic data the primary focus," said Tom DiGaloma, head of U.S. Treasury trading at Jefferies & Co.
Ahead of the opening bell, the latest Case-Shiller data compiled by Standard & Poor's showed U.S. home prices fell 10.7% in the past year. .
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures reversed earlier losses to close modestly higher, with crude for May delivery settling up 36 cents at $101.22 a barrel.
Gold futures rallied as weakness in the U.S. dollar boosted demand for the precious metal, with the contract for April delivery recently rising $16.30, or 1.8%, to end at $935 an ounce on Nymex. .
The dollar bumped lower, with an index measuring the U.S. currency against a basket of major counterparts at 72.2 off from 72.34 earlier Tuesday. .
U.S. stocks rallied on Monday, furthering the prior session's strong gains, after J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. increased its offer for Bear Stearns Cos. and after the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes rose for the first time in seven months.
Overseas, international stocks jumped on the Wall Street advance. The FTSE 100 rose more than 3% in London and overnight, the Hang Seng benchmark surged nearly 7% in Hong Kong.
By Kate Gibson