* Housing sector gains 3 pct after upbeat home prices data
* Jump in Spanish yields contributes to market caution
* Speculation of split sparks surge in News Corp
* Indexes up: Dow 0.3 pct, S&P; 0.5 pct, Nasdaq 0.6 pct
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, June 26 (Reuters) – Major U.S. stock indexes
bounced back on Tuesday, but trading was light with the outlook
clouded by doubts before yet another summit to tackle the
European debt crisis.
U.S. stocks partly recovered from losses of more than 1
percent on Monday, led by housing shares after
stronger-than-expected data on home prices.
The consumer discretionary sector was the top gainer on the
S&P; 500, followed by energy shares, which were boosted by a 2.3
percent jump in Brent crude prices.
Traders remained cautious as Spanish short-term borrowing
costs nearly tripled and U.S. consumer confidence fell in June
to its lowest level in five months.
“Certainly in the United States stocks are nicely priced,
and for a long-term investor it is an attractive entry point,
but then what about these macro risks hovering around the
market? I think it’s having a dampening effect,” said John De
Clue, global market strategist at U.S. Bank’s wealth management
group in Minneapolis.
Spanish 10-year bond yields rose after demand at a
shorter-term bill sale fell despite significantly higher yields.
Hopes faded that the European Union summit later this week would
produce game-changing measures to ease the debt crisis.
Madrid has formally asked for funds to bail out its banks in
a move some see as a prelude for a full-blown bailout of the
euro zone’s fourth-largest economy.
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp said it was considering
splitting into two publicly traded companies, and sources
familiar with the matter said publishing would be separated from
entertainment. Shares jumped 8.3 percent to $21.76 on volume of
73.1 million shares, making it the day’s most actively traded
stock on the Nasdaq.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 32.01 points,
or 0.26 percent, to 12,534.67. The S&P; 500 Index gained
6.27 points, or 0.48 percent, to 1,319.99. The Nasdaq Composite
Index gained 17.90 points, or 0.63 percent, to 2,854.06.
About 5.9 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock
Exchange, the Nasdaq and NYSE Amex, below the daily average of
6.82 billion so far this year.
JPMorgan Chase & Co shares rose 1.1 percent to
$35.71 after Goldman Sachs added the bank to its conviction buy
list. Morgan Stanley, cut to “neutral” by Goldman, added
0.2 percent to $13.51.
The PHLX housing index jumped 2.6 percent after
S&P;/Case Shiller data showed home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan
areas gained 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, topping
economists’ expectations for a 0.4 percent gain.
Facebook shares rose 3.2 percent to $33.10 a day
before the underwriters of the online social network’s recent
IPO are expected to release research on the company.
Advancing issues beat decliners on the New York Stock
exchange by about 9 to 5 while on the Nasdaq almost seven issues
rose for every five that fell.
