The Dow industrials rose to a new 18-month high Tuesday while the broader market ended mixed, as investors considered improving U.S. consumer confidence, more weakness in the U.S. housing market, and a stronger U.S. dollar. In economic news, a U.S. consumer-confidence index rose more than expected to 52.5 in March from 46.4 the previous month. A second report showed U.S. home prices fell in January, falling 0.4 percent from the previous month, and were down 0.7 percent from year-ago levels. The U.S. dollar gained versus the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for May delivery rose 20 cents to $82.37 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold for May delivery fell $6.80 to $1,103.50 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 11.56, or 0.1 percent, to 10,907.42. Hewlett-Packard, 3M, and Verizon were among the index's few gainers. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index was virtually unchanged, rising 0.05 to 1,173.27. The technology-heavy NASDAQ composite index rose 6.33, or 0.3 percent, to 2,410.69. Shares of Apple rose 1.5 percent to a record high after the Wall Street Journal said the company is developing an iPhone for the Verizon network.
