US close: Stocks higher as investors digest data

dl nyse new york stock exchange new york city nyc wall street wall st nasdaq markets trading finance unsplash — Sharecast / David Vives via Unsplash

US stocks closed higher on Tuesday as investors digested a flurry of data in a busy week for economic indicators, earnings and central bank action.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.38% at 33,052.87, while the S&P 500 was 0.65% stronger at 4,193.80 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.48% firmer at 12,851.24.

The Dow closed 123.91 points higher on Tuesday as economic data came in mixed, with leading indicators very much in focus ahead of the two-day policy decision meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee which concludes on Wednesday.

On the macro front, the Chicago manufacturing PMI fell from 44.1 to 44.0 in October, its 14th straight month below the 50-point level which separates contraction with expansion.

Elsewhere, the Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to a five-month low of 102.6 this month, from a revised 104.3 in September, though above the 100 reading expected.

Finally, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index increased 2.6% year-on-year in August, after a 1% rise in July, with prices now at an all-time high. However, analysts at Oxford Economics said that prices will likely come under renewed pressure "given the steady climb in mortgage rates, which sat at a multi-decade high of nearly 8% as of last week.

"Though the recent surge in bond yields will likely keep the Fed on hold at tomorrow's FOMC meeting, rate cuts are not on the immediate horizon, and a higher-for-longer approach from the Fed will keep mortgage rates elevated."

In terms of earnings, Pinterest surged 19% as the photo-sharing app's third-quarter results beat expectations. Adjusted earnings rose 154% year-on-year to $0.28 a share, ahead of the $0.20 estimate.

Drugmaker Pfizer fell was broadly flat after swinging to a worse-than-expected net loss of $2.38bn in the third quarter, compared with a net income of $8.61bn a year earlier.

Caterpillar dropped 5% despite posting a jump in third-quarter profit amid solid demand for its high-end construction equipment in North America, while JetBlue Airways tanked as it cautioned that fourth-quarter losses would be wider than expected. Sector peers American, United, Delta and Southwest also fell.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Boeing Co. (BA) $186.82 2.45%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $36.50 2.27%
American Express Co. (AXP) $146.03 1.93%
3M Co. (MMM) $90.95 1.60%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $35.13 1.47%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $144.68 1.41%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $139.06 1.19%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $167.43 1.17%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $284.69 1.14%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $81.59 1.13%