* Apple to report after the close, shares lower
* AT&T;, 3M and United Tech all climb after results
* Consumer confidence lower, home prices rise
* Dow up 0.6 pct, S&P; up 0.3 pct, Nasdaq off 0.3 pct
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday
after strong earnings from big manufacturers and AT&T;, but the
Nasda’s gains were capped by weakness from large-cap tech
companies.
The results continued the season’s strong performance. With
153 S&P; 500 components reporting, more than three-fourths have
topped expectations, according to Thomson Reuters Proprietary
Research.
AT&T; Inc, 3M Co and United Technologies Corp
, all Dow components, advanced after profits topped
estimates, extending the trend of this season’s robust results.
“These results serve as a reminder that while near-term
volatility is all but certain, the strength of corporate America
remains intact, and valuations remain attractive,” said Mark
Martiak, senior wealth strategist at Premier/First Allied
Securities in New York.
AT&T; advanced 3.8 percent to $31.77, while 3M
gained 2 percent to $88.84 and United Tech rose 0.5
percent to $80.11.
Apple Inc fell 2.3 percent to $558.83 and weighed
on the Nasdaq ahead of earnings after the market closes.
Results from Apple, the world’s most valuable company, will
be dissected after a stock swoon raised concerns that its rally
this year of 40 percent was over.
Netflix Inc also reined in the Nasdaq, tumbling
13.3 to $88.32 a day after it forecast slower subscriber growth
this quarter.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 80.90 points,
or 0.63 percent, at 13,008.15. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index
was up 4.36 points, or 0.32 percent, at 1,371.30. The
Nasdaq Composite Index was down 9.29 points, or 0.31
percent, at 2,961.16.
The S&P; 500 should hold near-term support at 1,340 during
the current pullback before rallying again, according to Brown
Brothers Harriman analysts. The index held at 1,340 during a
pullback in early March, which coincides with a 23.6 percent
retracement of the rally from October.
U.S. single-family home prices rose for the first time in 10
months in an encouraging sign the battered sector was starting
to stabilize, according to the latest S&P;/Case-Shiller report.
Separately, the government said single-family home sales
sagged to their lowest level in four months, but sales in the
previous three months were revised higher than initially
thought.
U.S. consumer confidence edged slightly lower in April,
according to a report from the Conference Board, a private
research group.
Equities barely moved after the reports were released.
Texas Instruments Inc forecast second-quarter
revenue growth above estimates, signaling the end of a prolonged
inventory-related decline in demand, but the results weren’t
enough to counter the broader weakness in tech. Its stock slid
1.6 percent to $31.37.
