US stocks end higher led by energy sector

For the day, the Dow ended higher by 72.49 points (0.52%) at 13,954.42. Nasdaq ended lower by 0.64 points (0.02%) at 3,153.66. S&P 500 ended higher by 7.66 points (0.51%) at 1,507.84.

Among the ten economic sectors, the energy sector led the winning side while tech sector was the laggard. Pfizer led the Dow winners.

Another quarterly report of note lied among discretionary stocks. Ford Motor beat on earnings and revenue, but the stock shed 5.4%. The carmaker expressed concerns about its European sales.

Health care, telecoms, and utilities were also among the day's top performers. In the health care space, Eli Lilly and Pfizer both gained 3.2% after reporting upbeat earnings.

The bulk of today's disappointing earnings was in the tech sector. Though Apple was higher by 1.6%, the tech sector traded flat. Seagate and VMware were down 9.1% and 20.7% respectively. Although the two companies reported earnings ahead of expectations, their guidance painted a somewhat cloudy outlook.

The dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies fell by 0.2% on Tuesday.

U.S. economic data, however, were downbeat on Tuesday. The Conference Board said that January consumer confidence declined to 58.6, which fell short of the 65.1 expected by consensus. Meanwhile, the Conference Board's gauge of views on the present situation dropped to 57.3 in January from 64.6 December, the first decline since July. The percentage of consumers who said business conditions are good fell to 16.7% in January from 17.2% in December, while those saying conditions are bad rose to 27.4% from 26.3%. The rest said conditions are normal.

Separate report showed that U.S. home prices declined in November on seasonal weakness, with 10 of 20 major cities seeing lower prices, while longer-term trends showed continuing growth, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite posted a non-seasonally adjusted 0.1% decrease in November following a 0.2% decline in October. After seasonal adjustments, the 20-city home-price index rose 0.6% in November.

Traders and investors are awaiting important U.S. economic data due out later in the week. The U.S. Federal Reserve's FOMC meeting began on Tuesday and its interest rate announcement occurs on Wednesday afternoon. The fourth-quarter advance gross domestic product estimate is also expected on Wednesday. Also, the U.S. employment report is out Friday morning.

Crude-oil prices ended substantially higher on Tuesday, 29 January 2013 at Nymex. Prices surpassed $97 a barrel on Tuesday, settling at their highest since September, as unrest in the Middle East and a refinery closure on the U.S. East Coast stoked supply concerns ahead of the latest updates on the nation's petroleum supplies.

Crude for March rose $1.13 cents, or 1.2%, to settle at $97.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday. Tensions in the Middle East continued to fuel fears of supply disruptions, with violence escalating in Algeria and Egypt. The hostage crisis in Algeria led to an attack on Monday on one of the country's pipelines and U.K. oil giant has reportedly reconsidered plans to restart drilling in neighboring Libya.

Bullion metal prices ended higher on Thursday, 29 January 2013. Prices rose after a four day decline following a weak dollar and downbeat economic data. Short covering and bargain hunting buying interest were featured following recent selling pressure. Gold for February delivery ended higher by $7.9 or 0.5%, to settle at $1,660.8 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday. March silver closed higher by 40 cents, or 1.3%, at $31.18 an ounce on Tuesday, lowest level seen in two weeks.

For every two shares declining roughly three rose on the New York Stock Exchange where 721 million shares traded. Composite volume surpassed 3.9 billion.

Indian ADRs ended mixed on Tuesday. In the Banking space, ICICI Bank was up 1.6% and HDFC Bank was down 0.6%. In the IT space, Infosys was up 0.5% and Wipro was down 0.85%. In the other space, Sterlite was up 1.9%, Tata Motors was down 0.14%. Dr Reddys was up 1.4%. .

For tomorrow, economic data will be the weekly MBA Mortgage Index released at 7:00 ET. At 8:15 ET, the January ADP Employment Change will be reported. Fourth quarter advanced GDP growth will hit the wires at 8:30 ET, and the Federal Reserve will top off the busy day of economic releases with its rate decision and policy statement scheduled for 14:15 ET. Among earnings of note, Boeing will announce its quarterly results prior to the open.

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