US stocks tick higher, Nasdaq tops 4,000
New York (AFP) - US stocks ticked slightly higher Tuesday, but the Nasdaq surged past the 4,000 mark for the first time in 13 years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the session flat, with a mere 0.26 point gain pushing it to 16,072.80, a record high.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite outperformed, adding 23.18 (0.58 percent) at 4,017.75, closing above 4,000 mark for the first time since the 2000 dot-com bust.
The S&P 500, a broad measure of the markets, edged up 0.27 (0.01 percent) to 1,802.75.
Investors had a batch of data to weigh, including better than expected housing reports and a further slide in consumer confidence.
US home building permits surged more than expected in October to the highest level in five years, the Commerce Department reported.
Home prices in the 20 largest cities on the S&P Case-Shiller index rose 13.3 percent in September from a year ago, topping the 13.0 percent average estimate.
But consumer confidence fell in November, according to the Conference Board, instead of rebounding from an October plunge amid the partial government shutdown.
"The shutdown effect should fade, and the surge in stock prices to new highs ought to lift sentiment. Right now, though, weakness at the start of the holiday season is unwelcome," said Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics.
Nasdaq got a boost from Apple, its top component, which surged 1.8 percent. Leading social network stocks rebounded from sharp falls Monday: Twitter rose 2.9 percent and Facebook gained 2.4 percent.
In corporate news, Tiffany posted a 50 percent rise in third-quarter net income and raised its full-year forecasts. Shares in the upscale retailer jumped 8.7 percent.
The Men's Wearhouse rose 7.5 percent after offering to buy rival men's apparel retailer Jos. A. Bank, up 11.3 percent, for about $1.2 billion in cash. The offer came after Jos. A. Bank made an unsuccessful bid for Men's Wearhouse in October.
Hewlett-Packard fell 0.9 percent ahead of its quarterly earning report after the market close. The computer and printer giant published $5.1 billion in earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter, topping analyst estimates by a penny per share.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.70 percent from 2.73 percent Monday, while the 30-year dropped to 3.80 percent from 3.82 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
