Wall Street rebounds on upbeat economic data

U.S. stocks rallied on Tuesday after Monday's selloff, as the country's economic data came in better than expected and global stocks stabilized on easing fears over a cash crunch in China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 100.75 points, or 0.69 percent, to 14,760.31 points. The S&P 500 leapt 14.94 points, or 0. 95 percent, to 1,588.03 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 27.13 points, or 0.82 percent, to 3,347.89 points. After the rally, the three indices recouped much of its previous day's losses. And the Nasdaq rose for the first time in five sessions. A batch of data released on Tuesday revealed that the U.S. housing market is continuing to recover. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, showed that average home prices rose 2.6 percent and 2.5 percent for the 10- and 20- City Composites from March to April, their record monthly gains, according to a report released Tuesday by S&P Dow Jones Indices. Separately, U.S. house price appreciation continued in April, rising 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous month, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency ( FHFA) House Price Index (HPI). U.S. new home sales also rallied. Sales of new single-family houses in May added 2.1 percent from April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 476,000, the highest level since July 2008, according to estimates released jointly Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. U.S. consumer confidence in June surged to the highest level in more than five years, said a survey released Tuesday by the research institute Conference Board. Consumer spending accounts for approximately 70 percent of the world's largest economy. New order for manufactured durable goods in May climbed 3.6 percent, the U.S. Commerce Department said, beating market consensus. European stocks rebounded strongly from seven-month lows while Asian stocks closed mixed on Tuesday as the People's Bank of China, the nation's central bank, moved to soothe market jitters. The Shanghai Composite Index inched down 0.2 percent and the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index ticked up 0.2 percent. "Markets are calmer this morning. U.S. stocks opened higher. Bonds are lower in yield, too, suggesting we may be experiencing a lull in the panicky activity of the past week. Still, nerves are raw and trading is likely to be volatile for a while," FTN Financial Chief Economist Christopher Low commented in a note Tuesday. Global stocks saw a heavy selling on Monday amid fears of the tightening interbank lending in China, sending the major U.S. stock indices roughly 1 percent lower. On other markets, oil price gained Tuesday on upbeat U.S. data. Traders are awaiting the weekly report on oil inventories due out Wednesday from the Energy Department. Light, sweet crude for August delivery climbed 14 cents, to settle at 95.32 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent for August delivery went up 10 cents, to close at 101.26 dollars a barrel. The U.S. dollar gained against other major currencies as new home sales data confirmed the housing market's recovery, reinforcing expectations that the Fed will taper later this year. In late New York trading, the euro dropped to 1.3090 dollars from 1.3123 dollars of the previous session. The dollar bought 97. 76 Japanese yen, higher than 97.72 yen of the previous session. Prices of U.S. Treasuries continued to fall. Yield on the 10- year Treasury note, which moves inversely to prices, rose to 2.598 percent on Tuesday. Gold futures dropped as strong data reinforce taper fears. The most active gold contract for August delivery fell 2.0 U.S. dollars, or 0.16 percent, to settle at 1,275.1 dollars per ounce