U.S. Markets Bounce On Tech Rally

U.S. stocks ended slightly higher, inching to fresh gains after the S&P 500 yesterday climbed to a new record and the Nasdaq Composite hit a 12-year high. Trading was muted as the Federal Open Market Committee began its two-day meeting on monetary policy. Economic reports also presented a mixed picture, with one report finding U.S. business activity contracted for the first time in over three years while separate studies showed gains in consumer confidence and housing prices. Tech stocks enjoyed a strong session, carrying the Nasdaq Composite to a moderate rise.

Manufacturing Slumped In April
A new measure of U.S. business activity helped keep a lid on stocks earlier Tuesday when the MNI Chicago Report unexpectedly fell to a 49 reading during April, down from a 52.4 score in the prior month and marking the lowest score since September 2009. Experts in a Bloomberg survey, on average, were looking for a 0.1 rise to 52.5. Readings below 50 indicate contraction with the latest report showing a big drop in employment to 48.7 from 55.1 while the production gauge retreated by 1.9 points to a 49.9 reading in April.

But consumer attitudes remain relatively upbeat, with the Conference Board reporting a 6.2-point rise in its Consumer Confidence Index to a 68.1 reading in April. Still, it may be too early to say attitudes of the general public are "actually on the mend," according to prepared remarks by Lynn Franco, the Conference Board's director of economic indicators, noting consumer confidence has been again tested by a string of events in recent months, including the so-called fiscal cliff to begin the year and federal sequestration budget cuts starting to kick in.

Best Housing Data In Years
The S&P/Case-Schiller index of property values in 20 U.S. cities also provided some positive impetus for stocks, showing a 9.3% increase in residential real-estate prices compared to year-ago levels. That was the biggest increase in nearly seven years and follows a 8.1% rise during January as a growing number of buyer were bidding on relatively limited supply of homes. Overall, 11 of the 20 metropolitan areas tracked by Case-Schiller recorded gains, led by a 23% year over year rise for Phoenix.

Commodities were mixed. Crude oil for June delivery is down $1.04 at $93.46 per barrel. June natural gas is down 5 cents at $4.34 per 1 million BTU. June gold settled $4.80 higher at $1,472.10 per ounce while July silver was unchanged at $23.95 per ounce. July copper was down 4 cents to finish at $3.19 per pound.

Here's Where The U.S. Markets Stood At Day's End

• Dow Jones Industrial Average up 21.05 (+0.14%) to 14,839.80
• S&P 500 up 3.96 (+0.25%) to 1,597.57
• Nasdaq Composite Index up 21.77 (+0.66%) to 3,328.79

• Hang Seng Index up 0.69%
• Shanghai China Composite Index down 0.97%
• FTSE 100 Index down 0.43%

• (+) TTHI, Said its TT-401 drug candidate showed significant improvement in glycemic control and weight loss in patients participating in a five-week, proof-of-concept study of the prospective diabetes medication.
• (+) GIB, Reports fiscal Q2 earnings of C$0.56 per share, ex one-time items, beating the Capital IQ consensus by $0.06 per share. Revenues of C$2.53 mln narrowly trailed the Street view by just $20,000.
• (+) MTOR, Sells its 50% stake in Suspensys Sistemas Automotivos LTDA to its joint venture partner Randon SA for $195 mln in cash.
• (+) OIS, JANA Partners discloses 9.1% active stake in the oilfield-services company, spending about $320 mln since April 2 to acquire just over 4.175 mln OIS shares.

• (-) DCTH, U.S. Food and Drug Administration tell the company it must conduct another clinical study of its Melbiez medical device-chemotherapy system before the agency will consider marketing approval for the device.
• (-) MPC, Reports Q1 earnings of $2.17 per share, up from a $1.70 per share profit a year ago and beating analyst estimates by $0.02. Revenue rose 15.1% to $23.3 bln, matching the Street view.
• (-) NUAN, Fiscal Q2 net income of $0.34 per share trails analyst expectations by $0.06 per share. Revenue of $484 mln also lagged forecasts by around $32 mln.
• (-) NBS, Announces proposed public offering of common stock. Terms of the offering have not yet been determined. The company plans to use net proceeds from the deal for working capital, including research and development of its AMR-001 cell therapeutic product candidate and other corporate purposes.