Click chart for more market data. By Hibah Yousuf, staff reporterApril 26, 2011: 11:01 AM ET
NEW YORKÂ (CNNMoney) — U.S. stocks gained momentum Tuesday, as investors pored through earnings results and and a better-than-expected report on consumer confidence.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 70 points, or 0.6%, the S&P 500 (SPX) rose 8 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) added 16 points, or 0.6%.
“Corporate earnings have been strong and are a good sign of global growth,” said Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Cancaccord Adams.
Rovelli said upbeat results from package shipper UPS (UPS, Fortune 500) is particularly compelling given the company’s global reach into the economy. Shares of UPS rose 1% Tuesday after the company posted a 66% rise in profit and raised its full-year earnings outlook.
The busy week in earnings news also brought the strongest first quarter in 13 years from Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500), pushing the automakers’s shares up 3%.
3M (MMM, Fortune 500) was among the Dow’s leaders, with its shares up more than 2% after the company reported better-than-expected earnings. Cummins (CMI, Fortune 500) led the S&P 500 with an 8% rise after the engine maker surprised investors by doubling its profit.
Delta (DAL, Fortune 500)’s stock advanced 8% after the airline beat the Street on earnings and revenue.
IBM (IBM, Fortune 500), which reported a better-than-expected first-quarter last week, announced a 15% quarterly dividend increase and said it would buy back more of its shares.
But it wasn’t all good news from Corporate America. Lexmark International (LXK) shares fell 16%, making it the worst performing company in the S&P 500, and Coca-Cola (KO, Fortune 500) shares lost 2% to make it the biggest loser on the Dow. Both reported disappointing earning.
Netflix (NFLX) shares tumbled more than 6%, a day after the company reported solid earnings but issued an outlook that fell short of forecasts. The online movie rental company posted the worst losses in the Nasdaq composite.
Seattle-based Amazon.com (AMZN, Fortune 500) is on tap to announce quarterly earnings after the closing bell Tuesday.
Investors largely shrugged off another dour reading on the housing market. The latest S&P/Case-Shiller home price index showed that eight straight months of declines have now put home prices near post-crisis lows reached in 2009.
“The market is scrapping the housing data,” Rovelli said. “Everyone know the housing market is a disaster and it’s not getting better anytime soon.”
U.S. stocks ended mixed on Monday, helped by a modest boost in technology shares.
Economy: The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for April rose more than expected to 65.4 from 63.8 the prior month. Economists were expecting the sentiment index to come in at 64.4.
Meanwhile, this week also brings Wednesday’s Federal Reserve press conference and Thursday’s report on U.S. economic growth.
“There’s some anxiety about Bernanke’s press conference tomorrow and the GDP numbers on Thursday,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James. “Towards the end of the day you may seem a little bit of nervousness in markets.”
World markets: European stocks rose in afternoon trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3%, the DAX in Germany added 0.4% and France’s CAC 40 advanced about 0.2%.
Asian markets ended the session lower. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.9%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong dipped 0.5% and Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.2%.
Currencies and commodities: The dollar fell against the euro and the Japanese yen, but rose versus the British pound.
Oil for June delivery slipped 50 cents to $111.78 a barrel.
Gold futures for June delivery fell $11.00 to $1,498.10 an ounce. Silver prices pulled back sharply to $45.14 an ounce, one day after prices came within spitting distance of the key $50-an-ounce level.
Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 3.34% from 3.36% late Monday. Â 
First Published: April 26, 2011: 9:46 AM ET
