Stocks rose Tuesday, finding momentum after a volatile morning, with the three major indexes hitting nearly three-year highs. The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) started its two-day policy meeting Tuesday, with an announcement expected Wednesday afternoon. The central bank is expected to hold short-term interest rates unchanged at historic lows near zero percent. In economic news, U.S. home prices rose 0.3 percent in July, the government said, but prices of single-family houses remain more than 4 percent below a year ago and 10.5 percent below the peak seen in mid-2007. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and the yen after having advanced for the past few sessions. Light sweet crude oil for October delivery rose $1.84 to $71.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold for December delivery rose $10.60 to $1,015.50 an ounce, not far below its record-high closing price above $1,020 hit last week. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 51.01, or 0.5 percent, to 9,829.87, its highest point since last October 6. Twenty of the index's 30 components rose. Gainers included Chevron, Caterpillar, Alcoa, and Hewlett-Packard. Financial stocks Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase also rose. Citigroup rose 5 percent after a Singapore wealth fund said it sold half of its 9 percent stake in the bank. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.00, or 0.7 percent, to 1,071.66, its highest level since last October 3. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 8.26, or 0.4 percent, to 2,146.30, its highest point since last September 26. The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 78.54 to 7,047.13. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 17.31 to 1,803.54. And the Russell 2000 index rose 4.72 to 620.69.
