Stocks edge higher on mixed economic reports

By Andrea Tse

Stocks rose Tuesday on reports showing a drop in U.S. consumer confidence and signs of improvement in a key home price index.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) was up 31 points at 12,533. The S&P 500 ($INX) was up 6 points at 1,319. The Nasdaq Composite ($COMPX) was up 13 points to 2,849.

Stocks closed sharply lower Monday as investors fled riskier assets on concerns about Europe's ability to address its escalating debt problems. The latest batch of worrisome headlines included Cyprus' reportedly asking for a bailout, the resignation of Greece's finance minister, and Spain's making a formal request for funding to solidify its banking system.

The U.S. Conference Board on Tuesday reported consumer expectations declined for the fourth month in a row, the lowest reading since November. The June reading fell to 62 from a downwardly revised 64.4 in May. Economists had expected a reading of 63.5, according to a Reuters poll.

April home prices were up in nearly all major U.S. cities, The Associated Press reported Tuesday, adding to evidence of a recovery in the housing market. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index showed increases in 19 of the 20 cities tracked. It's the second straight month to show an increase. A measure of national prices rose 1.3%, the first increase in seven months, AP said.

In Europe, German market research group GfK predicted that its consumer sentiment index for Germany will improve in July for the first time in five months, rising to 5.8 from 5.7 in June, as an improvement in income expectations helps offset worries about the economic impact of the eurozone turbulence.

The FTSE in London was down 0.07%, and the DAX in Germany was up 0.07%.

The Spanish Treasury sold 3.077 billion euros ($3.850 billion) in three-month and six-month treasury bills Tuesday at much heftier borrowing costs than in the prior month as investors grew more and more concerned that the country will have trouble handling its debt as it requests financial aid for its shaky banking sector.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng index closed up by 0.45%, and the Nikkei in Japan settled down by 0.81%.

News Corp. (NWSA) is considering splitting into two companies, separating its smaller publishing business from its entertainment businesses, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation. The split would carve off such assets as 20th Century Fox film studio, Fox broadcast network and Fox News channel from News Corp.'s newspapers, book publishing assets and education businesses. News Corp. owns the Journal. A final decision on the split hasn't been made, according to the Journal. News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch has previously opposed such a move but has recently warmed to the idea, said one person familiar with the situation.

Facebook (FB) named Sheryl Sandberg, the social-networking company's No. 2 executive, to its board. Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, is the eighth member of the company's board and its first woman.

LDK Solar (LDK) posted a loss in the first quarter Tuesday of $135.8 million, or 1.46 cents per American depository share, a reversal from year-earlier profit of $135.4 million, or 95 cents per ADS. Net sales fell 74% to $200 million from $766.3 million a year earlier. Analysts were expecting LDK Solar to post a loss of $1.14 per ADS on revenue of $225.5 million, according to Thomson Reuters.

Apollo Group (APOL), the operator of the University of Phoenix, reported fiscal-third-quarter​ adjusted earnings Monday of $1.20 a share on revenue of $1.13 billion, beating analysts' estimates of a profit of 97 cents a share on revenue of $1.12 billion. Apollo forecast revenue of $4.2 billion to $4.3 billion for fiscal 2012.

Coinstar (CSTR) said Monday it will record a charge of 40 cents to 50 cents a share in fiscal 2012 on its deal to acquire NCR's (NCR) DVD rental kiosk business.

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