U.S. Markets Cheered By Solid Data

U.S. stocks rallied Tuesday, climbing off a nine-week low for the S&P 500 after bullish economic data and signs China's banking system is stabilizing buoyed investor moods. The major indices all finished near their best levels of the day, erasing almost all of Monday's declines. Financial stocks paced the advance, with shares of industrial and utility companies also posting strong gains. Consumer staples and healthcare stocks were the relative laggards, with both sectors each rising less than 0.4% as a group.

Stocks got an early push overnight when the People's Bank of China moved to reassure investor worried about a looming credit crunch, declaring it already has been selectively supporting bank liquidity. In a statement posted on its website after the Chinese markets closed, the PBOC said it has provided "liquidity support to some financial institutions that meet the demands of macro prudence," later saying "some banks with ample liquidity have also begun to play a stabilizing role in circulating capital into markets."

A slew of positive data at home also contributed to gains. Durable goods orders rose 3.6% during May, matching the 3.6% gain in April for goods intended to last more than three years, the Commerce Department said. Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft increased 1.1%, topping expert opinion looking for just a 0.3% rise last month.

Upbeat Housing
The S&P/Case Schiller home price composite index of 20 metropolitan areas continued its run of big gains in recent months, rising 12.1% during April from a year ago, the largest annual rise since March 2006. Homebuilder Lennar (LEN) also posted better-than-expected Q2 per-share earnings and revenue, underpinning rising share prices for most residential construction firms.

Consumer confidence climbed to its best levels of the recovery, reaching 81.4 in the final reading for June in the S&P/University of Michigan survey of consumer attitudes, up from a 76.2 reading in May. Analysts had been looking for a 75 final score this month.

Commodities were mixed. Crude oil for August delivery rose 18 cents to settle at $95.33 per barrel while July natural gas fell 9 cents to $3.67 per 1 mln BTU. August gold fell $1.70 to $1,275.20 per ounce while July silver added 2 cents to settle at $19.52 per ounce. July copper rose 5 cents to $3.07 per pound.

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

• Dow Jones Industrial Index up 100.75 (+0.69%) to 14,760.31
• S&P 500 up 14.95 (+0.95%) to 1,588.04
• Nasdaq Composite Index up 27.13 (+0.82%) to 3,347.89

• FTSE 100 up 1.14%
• Hang Seng Index up 0.21%
• Shanghai China Composite Index down 0.18%

• (+) OPTT, Australian subsidiary engages Professional Diving Services to conduct a detailed seabed survey to identify the location for a 62.5-megawatt peak rating wave power station off the Victoria coast on the southeastern end of the continent.
• (+) MEET, Social media company forecasts Q2 revenue of at least $9 mln, topping analyst projections by $1.1 mln or more.
• (+) CBMX, Receives conditional approval from state regulators in New York to begin marketing its prenatal miscarriage analysis test.

• (-) WAG, Drug store operator earns $0.85 per share in its fiscal Q3, excluding certain items, trailing the Capital IQ consensus by $0.05 per share. Revenue rises 3.2% over the same quarter last year to $18.31 bln, in-line with its June 5 preannouncement and lagging the Street view by $170 mln.
• (-) MITK, Prices offering of 2.9 mln shares at $5.25 apiece, generating about $15 mln in gross proceeds.
• (-) BKS, Fiscal Q4 net loss more than doubled from the same quarter last year to $2.11 per share, trailing analyst expectations for the period by $1.02 per share. Revenue declined 7.2% compared to year-ago levels to $1.28 bln, also missing the Street view. Also scraps its color Nook e-readers following a 34% year-over-year drop in sales