Confidence Data Bolster U.S. Stocks

GEOFFREY ROGOW

U.S. stocks surged, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 100 points, after a jump in consumer confidence offset a weak report on housing prices.

Market Data Center >

• Most Actives | Gainers | Losers
• New Highs and Lows | Money Flows
• Intraday Futures | Currencies

In a morning report, the Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence for May jumped to 54.9 from 40.8 in April, which was originally reported as 39.2. The index is now at its highest since September 2008, the board said. The present situation index, a gauge of consumers' assessment of current economic conditions, edged up to 28.9 from 25.5 in April. Expectations for economic activity over the next six months jumped to 72.3 from 51.0 in the prior month.

Consumer-discretionary stocks jumped on the news. Home Depot shares were up more than 3%, leading the Dow industrials.

The confidence report offset a discouraging set of numbers on home prices as the S&P Case-Shiller home-price indexes showed prices continued to tumble in March, as 15 of 20 major metropolitan areas showed price declines of more than 10% from a year earlier. In the first quarter, the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index dropped 19.1% from a year earlier, the biggest quarterly decline for the reading's 21-year history.

"The market already knows about the problems out there and is simply trying to evaluate where we are in the curve," said Daniel Morgan, a portfolio manager with Synovus Securities.

Recently, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher by 170 points at 8448. The S&P 500-stock index gained about 2% and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up by about 2.7%.

Technology companies have rallied since the open, with Research In Motion up 3%, and Apple up 5%.