(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks finished higher on Tuesday, after pending home sales data suggested that the housing market and the economy are stabilizing.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 19.43 points or 0.22% to finish at 8,740.87. The S&P 500 increased 1.87 points or 0.20% to end at 944.74. The Nasdaq Composite gained 8.12 points or 0.44% to 1,836.80.
According to the National Association of Realtors, pending home sales index rose 6.7% in April after a 3.2% increase in March. Economists expected pending home sales to increase 0.5% in April.
Shares of US homebuilders rallied. D.R Horton (NYSE:
DHI) surged 38 cents or 4.11% to $9.63. Pulte Homes Inc. (NYSE:
PHM) gained 46 cents or 3.05% to $15.52.
Early on Monday, troubled US automaker
General Motors Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company has tentatively agreed to sell its Hummer brand and would eliminate 7,900 jobs this year as part of its efforts to emerge from bankruptcy. The company expects to transform its most profitable assets into a new company in just 30 days and emerge from bankruptcy protection soon after. U.S. government, which will take 60 percent ownership stake in the new company, expects GM to come out of bankruptcy protection within 60 to 90 days. Meanwhile, S&P said in a statement that education company DeVry (NYSE:
DV) will replace General Motors Corp. in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. DeVry advanced $2.22 or 5% to $46.59.
Alcoa (NYSE:
AA), the largest US aluminum maker, jumped 69 cents or 7.02% to $10.52.
Airplane maker (NYSE:
BA) soared $1.50 or 3.14% to $49.20.
Energy stocks finished higher. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:
XOM) rose $1.16 or 1.62% to $72.92. Chevron Corp. (NYSE:
CVX) gained 14 cents or 0.20% to $69.35.
Financials settled with losses. Citigroup (NYSE:
C) plunged 18 cents or 4.88% to $3.51. JP Morgan (NYSE:
JPM) lost $1.61 or 4.46% to $34.50. American Express (NYSE:
AXP) tumbled $1.28 or 4.92% to $24.71. Late on Monday, JP Morgan Chase and American Express announced that they will raise $5.5 billion in order to repay government loan provided under government rescue program.
Early on Tuesday, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:
MS) said that it plans to raise $2.2 billion in common equity to comply with a government requirement to repay its $25 billion capital infusion from taxpayers.
Computer storage giant EMC Corp. (NYSE:
EMC) made an unsolicited offer of $1.8 billion dollars or $30 a share for Data Domain (NASDAQ: DDUP), setting up a potential bidding war with NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP), which offered to buy the company for $1.5 billion dollars or $25 a share two weeks ago. EMC Corp. finished at $12.85, up 43 cents or 3.46%.
Health-care products and service provider Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE:
CAH) boosted its quarterly dividend 25% to 17.5 cents a share, payable July 15 to holders of record July 1.Shares of the company plummeted $3.96 or 10.83% to $32.60.
Walgreen (NYSE:
WAG) announced on Tuesday that same- store sales increased by 1% in May. Total sales rose 6.1% in the period to $5.4 billion. Shares of Walgreen increased 48 cents or 1.54% to $31.62.
European stocks settled with strong gains. The UK FTSE decreased 29.17 points or 0.65% to 4,477.02. The German DAX climbed 0.03% while French CAC decreased 0.04%.
Asian stocks finished mixed. The Nikkei 225 rose 26.56 points or 0.27% to 9,704.31. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong fell 499.51 points or 2.64% to 18,389.08.
NYMEX crude oil for July delivery declined 2 cents to settle at $68.56 a barrel.
Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.
