New York – Wall Street eked out a modest gain Tuesday as investors, wary about the upcoming release of the Federal Reserve minutes, bought cautiously amid a series of new takeover deals and upbeat consumer-confidence figures.
Stocks drew support from news that a consortium of banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland PLC said it will bid $95.5 billion for the Netherlands’ ABN Amro, besting an offer from Barclays PLC. Other takeover news included an announcement that Tishman Speyer Properties and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. are buying Englewood-based Archstone-Smith Trust for at least $13.5 billion.
But trading was erratic with the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting scheduled to be released today. The minutes could provide some insight into future interest-rate moves; many investors are hoping for a rate cut later this year. Wall Street also digested strong consumer-confidence data and a report on housing prices.
“It’s a bit of a wishy-washy day. … People are starting to get their sea legs back after a long weekend,” said Joe Ranieri, managing director in equity trading at Canaccord Adams.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 14.06, or 0.10 percent, to 13,521.34. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 2.38, or 0.16 percent, to 1,518.11, while the Nasdaq composite index gained 14.87, or 0.58 percent, to 2,572.06.
Bonds fell after the consumer-confidence data was announced, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.89 percent from 4.86 percent late Friday. Yields have remained higher in recent sessions as fixed-income investors bet the Fed won’t lower rates in the near future.
Most on Wall Street hope the economy is growing fast enough to stoke companies’ U.S.-based businesses but not so quickly that it would prevent the Fed from lowering rates later in the year. On Tuesday, the consumer appeared strong; the Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 108.0 in May, up from a revised 106.3 in April and above the average analyst estimate.
Also, the Dallas and Chicago Federal Reserve branches reported expansions in regional manufacturing activity.
But the housing sector looked weak after the Standard & Poor’s housing index indicated that U.S. home prices declined 1.4 percent in the first quarter compared with a year ago.
U.S. retail gasoline prices have eased slightly from their record high of $3.227 a gallon, on average, but remained high Tuesday at $3.201, according to AAA.
