Stocks opened slightly higher Tuesday after encouraging reports on housing and earnings and as the dollar retreated.
The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index rose for a fourth straight month, beating expectations.
The dollar pulled backas traders booked profits from Monday's gains, which spurred the selloff in stocks.
On Monday, the Dow posted its first back-to-back triple-digit drops since June as the markets were impacted by a rising dollar, falling commodity prices, and other factors.
Banks including Bank of America and JPMorgan led that selloff, along with commodities stocks including Alcoa . Both sectors rebounded this morning.
Energy stocks including ExxonMobil and Chevron advanced as oil ticked higher with the dollar's retreat. Both of those companies are set to report earnings later this week.
In today's earnings news, TD Ameritrade and US Steel were among companies reporting earnings that beat analyst expectations.
US Steel posted a loss of $2.11 a share that was considerably less than the $2.87 that analysts expected. TD Ameritrade posted a $0.26 profit on record organic growth.
Energy giant BP also contributed to the move higher, posting a profit drop of 34 percent that beat analyst estimates, driven by aggressive cost-cutting.
At 10 am New York time, the Conference Board is out with its monthly Consumer Confidence Index, with consensus forecasts looking for a reading of 53.2 for October, compared to the September reading of 53.1.
The government continues its record week of auctions with the sale of $44 billion in 2-year notes, with the results available shortly after 1 pm New York time. On Wednesday will see the sale of $41 billion in 5-year notes, followed by $31 billion in 7-year notes on Thursday.
Some encouraging news from the auto sector, as Honda nearly triples its yearly profit forecast.
At the same time, we're hearing about a slight setback for Ford , as UAW workers at its Kansas City assembly plant vote against the tentative contract changes designed to bring Ford's costs in line with those at GM and Chrysler.
- Peter Schacknow contributed to this article.
This Week:
TUESDAY: Case-Shiller home-price index; Conference Board consumer confidence; Ruth Madoff hearing; Earnings from BP, Visa and US Steel
WEDNESDAY: Weekly mortgage applications; durable-goods orders; new-home sales; weekly crude inventories; executive-compensation hearing; Earnings from ConocoPhillips, GlaxoSmithKline and General Dynamics
THURSDAY: 80th anniversary of 1929 market crash; Weekly jobless claims; first look at Q3 GDP; Larry Summers speaks in NYC; Earnings from AstraZeneca, ExxonMobil, P&G, Aetna, Kellogg, Motorola and Sprint Nextel
FRIDAY: Personal income and spending; consumer sentiment; Earnings from Chevron
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