Stocks Shrug Off Early Losses, Close Near Session Highs

The U.S. stock market was resilient again on Tuesday. Stocks traded lower in early trade, before rising throughout the rest of the day to finish near session highs.

Gains for the Dow and S&P were muted, but the Nasdaq tacked on 0.66 percent. Investors were heartened by a sharp rise in consumer confidence for April and a report which showed home prices continue to jump throughout much of the country.

Major Averages
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 21 points, or 0.14 percent, to 14,840.

The S&P 500 climbed around 4 points, or 0.25 percent, to close just below 1,598.

The Nasdaq rose 22 points, or 0.66 percent, to 3,329.

Chicago PMI
Manufacturing in the Chicago region contracted in April for the first time since September 2009. Chicago PMI fell from 52.4 in March to 49.0 in April. The consensus expected a decline to 52.0.

Consumer Confidence
Consumer confidence jumped sharply in April. The Conference Board's index jumped from 59.7 in March to 68.1 for April. This was well above the consensus estimate which called for an increase to 61.0.

Commodities
Energy prices fell on Tuesday. Late in the day, NYMEX crude futures were trading down around 1.30 percent to $93.26. Brent crude contracts lost a little less than 2 percent to $101.93. Natural gas was last trading down around 0.36 percent to $4.15.

Precious metals registered modest gains on the day. At last check, COMEX gold futures were up 0.14 percent to $1,469.40 while silver climbed a little less than 0.50 percent to $24.28. Copper futures also rose roughly 0.50 percent on the session.

In the grain complex, corn contracts pulled back around 1.50 percent after a better than 6 percent gain on Monday. Wheat was last trading up 2 percent. Movers in soft commodities included cocoa, which gained 1.41 percent, and cotton which was last up better than 2 percent.

Bonds
Near the close of equity trading, the iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) was trading up 0.05 percent to $123.00. Yields were unchanged across the board in Treasuries on Tuesday.

Currencies
The U.S. dollar fell again on Tuesday. Near the close, the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF (UUP), which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of foreign currencies, was down 0.49 percent to $22.20.

The closely watched EUR/USD pair was last trading up 0.50 percent to $1.3162. Other movers included the USD/JPY, which fell 0.49 percent and the USD/CAD, which was last down 0.35 percent on the day.

Volatility and Volume
The VIX was slightly lower late on Tuesday. At last check, the widely watched barometer of volatility expectations had lost around 1 percent to 13.57.

Volume was lighter than normal again on Tuesday. Around 94.5 million SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) shares traded hands compared to a 3-month daily average of 128 million.

Stock Movers
Shares of CGI Group (GIB) were trading up better than 18 percent late in the day after the company reported Q2 revenue that was up 137 percent.

Oil States International (OIS) rose around 17 percent on the day after hedge fund Jana Partners disclosed a 9.1 percent stake in the company and called the stock "undervalued."

HeartWare International (HTWR) jumped nearly 14 percent on the day after the company reported strong fiscal Q1 results.

Texas Roadhouse (TXRH) shares rose more than 10 percent on Tuesday after the company reported a 39 percent rise in first-quarter earnings.

Nuance Communications (NUAN) fell around 18 percent after the company reported a wider-than expected second-quarter loss.

Pitney Bowes (PBI) plunged nearly 16 percent after reporting Q1 earnings that were down 57 percent. The company also cut its second-quarter dividend.

BY Scott Rubin