NEW YORK — Stocks barely changed Tuesday amid light trading ahead of the New Year’s holiday.
The Dow Jones industrial average finished slightly higher after stocks dipped earlier on disappointing consumer confidence and home prices reports.
The Dow edged up after Treasury prices fell in the wake of a weak bond auction in the afternoon. Fewer buyers than expected emerged for the government’s auction of $35 billion five-year bonds. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.49 percent from 3.34 percent late Monday.
The Dow closed higher by 20.51 points, 0.2 percent, to 11,575.54, its highest level since Aug. 28, 2008.
The Standard and Poor’s 500 rose 0.97, less than 0.1 percent, to 1,258.51. The technology-focused Nasdaq composite lost 4.39, or 0.2 percent, to 2,662.88.
“Portfolio managers are playing a bit of a game of not wanting to be so light (on) stocks and heavy bonds at the end of the year,” James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Minneapolis-based Wells Capital Management, told Bloomberg News. “The . . . (Dec. 31) print of net results are going to be that stocks beat bonds, so they’re buying stocks and selling bonds.”
The Conference Board announced that consumer confidence in the economy slid to a level of 52.5 in December, down from 54.3 in November, as Americans fret about unemployment. The market was expecting a slightly higher reading because of signs of improved spending in the Christmas season.
“The spending patterns this Christmas looks better, but unemployment continues to be a big question,” said Kim Caughey Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group.
Another factor weighing on the minds of traders is fear that the housing market will continue to fall. Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller said Tuesday that home prices fell 1.3 percent in October from November.
