U.S. stock indexes veer higher as consumer confidence gains

U.S. stock indexes moved slightly higher in morning trading Tuesday as investors weighed the latest batch of company earnings and economic news. New data showed strong gains in consumer confidence and U.S. home prices. Banks and other financial stocks led the way higher, while phone company stocks were down the most.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 60 points, or 0.3 percent, to 20,611 as of 11:02 a.m. Eastern Time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 5 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,347. The Nasdaq composite index gained 2 points to 5,842. The Dow has fallen for eight days in a row, its longest losing streak in more than five years.

THE QUOTE: “The market is sort of in a holding pattern waiting for additional clarity from the administration on corporate tax reform,” said Nadia Lovell, U.S. equity strategist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. “We do view the pivot away from health care reform on Friday as an overall net positive.”

TASTY RESULTS: Darden Restaurants jumped 8 percent after the owner of Olive Garden reported strong quarterly results and said it will buy the Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen chain for $780 million. Cheddar has 165 locations in 28 states. Darden rose $6.08 to $81.66.

STRONG QUARTER: Red Hat climbed 5.3 percent after the open-source software company reported strong sales and solid guidance for the current quarter. The stock added $4.35 to $86.55.

SMOOTH SAILING: Carnival rose 1.4 percent after the cruise line operator served up solid first-quarter results and a better-than-expected estimate for the second quarter. The stock, which closed at an all-time high on Monday, gained 84 cents to $59.71.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS: The Conference Board said that its consumer confidence index rose this month to 125.6, its highest level in more than 16 years. Separately, the latest Standard & Poor’s CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index showed that home prices rose at the fastest pace in more than two years in January. Mortgage rates are rising but that’s not expected to affect home sales yet because hiring is still strong, rates are low and there aren’t a lot of homes on the market.

MARKETS OVERSEAS: In Europe, Germany’s DAX was up 0.8 percent, while France’s CAC 40 was 0.2 percent higher. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 0.5 percent. Investors, particularly in U.K.-related assets, will have more to chew on Wednesday when the British government finally triggers the two-year process by which it leaves the European Union. In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.5 percent. Seoul’s Kospi rose 0.3 percent.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 54 cents, or 1.1 percent, at $48.27 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to rice international oils, climbed 92 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $51.82 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The euro rose to $1.0869 from $1.0868, while the dollar weakened to 110.27 yen from 110.57 yen.

TREASURY YIELDS: Bond prices edged higher. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.37 percent from 2.38 percent.