NEW YORK — The Dow Jones industrial average rose 12 points Tuesday while the broader market indexes fell slightly.
The Dow’s advance was largely because of a jump in DuPont Co. after the chemical maker reported strong earnings.
The Conference Board’s report that its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 50.4 from June’s revised reading of 54.3 distracted investors from another batch of upbeat earnings reports.
Consumer confidence has fallen in recent months as people have waited in vain for a turnaround in the job market. That has made many consumers hesitant to spend and in turn raised concerns about the economic recovery. Many retail stocks fell after the confidence number was released.
Companies have a very different take on the economy from consumers. Chemical maker DuPont on Tuesday joined the growing number of big corporations that have raised their earnings forecasts. DuPont also easily beat analysts’ predictions for its second-quarter profit and revenue. The company’s stock rose 3.6 percent.
Still, investors have been torn over the past few months between buying on companies’ upbeat reports and selling on government and private sector numbers that keep pointing to a slowing of the economy.
“Investors are really uncertain whether to focus on the underlying economy or earnings,” said Tyler Vernon, principal and portfolio manager at Biltmore Capital Advisors.
Earnings had investors’ attention the past two weeks but the occasional economic number such as Tuesday’s consumer confidence survey can trump companies’ results, Vernon said. When earnings reports are done, unsettling data on jobs, housing and consumer spending will dominate trading, and may well lead to more selling.
John Brady, a senior vice president at MF Global in Chicago, said there is little that’s likely to turn around consumer confidence in the near future. Consumers won’t become more optimistic until they see a drop in unemployment and clear signs that employers are hiring.
“I don’t know what turns around confidence aside from jobs growth,” Brady said.
The Dow rose 12.26, or 0.1 percent, to 10,537.69 after gaining 405 points the past three days on strong earnings and forecasts. The Dow has surged in July, rising almost 8 percent. The gains helped push the index back into the black for the year on Monday.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 1.17, or 0.1 percent, to 1,113.84, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 8.18, or 0.4 percent, to 2,288.25.
Losing stocks were ahead of gainers by about 4 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 4.7 billion shares.
Bond prices fell, sending their yields higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.05 percent from 2.99 percent late Monday. That yield helps set interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans.
Business, Pages 28 on 07/28/2010