Stocks: Gains tempered by dour housing data

By CNNMoney staffApril 26, 2011: 9:46 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — U.S. stocks opened slightly higher Tuesday, as investors pored through mixed earnings results and a report showing housing could be near a double dip.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 25 points, or 0.2%, the S&P 500 (SPX) rose 5 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) added 7 points, or 0.3%.

Early Tuesday, Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) reported its strongest first quarter in 13 years, posting earnings of 61 cents per share on $33.1 billion in revenue. Ford shares rose 3% in morning trading.

3M (MMM, Fortune 500) was among the Dow’s leaders, with its shares rising 1% after the company reported better-than-expected earnings. Delta (DAL, Fortune 500)’s stock advanced 5% after the airline beat the Street on earnings and revenue.

It wasn’t all good news thought. Lexmark International (LXK) shares fell 13%, 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 and were the worst performing companies in the S&P 500.

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 also took in another reading on the housing market. The latest S&P/Case-Shiller home price index showed home prices fell 3.3% year-over-year in March. The eighth straight monthly decline put home prices near post-crisis lows reached in 2009.

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Monday, helped by a modest boost in technology shares.

Economy: After the start of trading, the Conference Board releases its Consumer Confidence index for April. Economists forecast the index to have edged up to 64.4, from 63.4 in March, showing consumers are slightly more optimistic about the economy.

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 0.3%.

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 19 cents to $112.09 a barrel.

Gold futures for June delivery fell $4.20 to $1,504.90 an ounce. Silver prices pulled back sharply, 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 fell, pushing the yield up to 3.37% from 3.36% late Monday.