(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)
US stocks finished with gains on Tuesday after better-than-expected consumer confidence and housing data boosted investor sentiment. Stocks also rose on reports that President Obama is nominating Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke for a second term in office.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 30.01 points or 0.32% to finish at 9,539.29. The S&P 500 gained 2.43 points or 0.24% to end at 1,028. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 6.25 points or 0.31% to 2,024.23.
The Conference Board said on Tuesday that its consumer confidence index jumped to 54.1 in August from an upwardly-revised 47.4 in July. Economists were expecting the index to rise to 48.
According to a release by S&P/Case-Shiller, home prices rose 2.9% in the second-quarter compared to the first quarter. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index and 10-city home price index both rose 1.4% in June; more than double the rate of increase seen in May.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman, for a second four-year term starting Jan. 31.
Shares of financials rallied. Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) soared 40 cents or 2.31% to 17.75. JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM: 43.62, 0.61) surged 57 cents or 1.33% to $43.58.
Shares of airplane maker Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) advanced $1.12 or 2.38% to $48.25.
Chipmaker Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) jumped 34 cents or 1.81% to $19.10.
Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) gained 45 cents or 1.38% to close at $32.95.
Shares of Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE: TRV) rose 53 cents or 1.11% to $48.
The nation's No. 2 hamburger chain Burger King (NYSE: BKC) announced early Tuesday that fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose to $58.9 million, or 43 cents per share, compared to $50.6 million, or 37 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.Revenue dropped 2.4 percent to $629.9 million. Analysts had expected revenue of $632 million. Same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, slipped 2.4% in the quarter. Shares of the company jumped $1.09 or 6.17% to $18.75.
Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) reported that net income for the period ended Aug.
