Wall St opens up, set for best year since 1997

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose modestly at the open on Tuesday after data showed home prices rose, keeping the S&P 500 on track for its best year since 1997 and the Dow on pace to record its best performance since 1996.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 33.07 points or 0.2 percent, to 16,537.36, the S&P 500 gained 3.15 points or 0.17 percent, to 1,844.22 and the Nasdaq Composite added 7.04 points or 0.17 percent, to 4,161.239.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)