Stocks rise anew

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks gained Tuesday afternoon, climbing for a second session as investors welcomed a strong report on housing amid the two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting currently underway.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 53.20 to 12,279.37, Charts), the broader S&P 500 (up 7.51 to 1,409.57, Charts) index and the Nasdaq (up 12.60 to 2,407.01, Charts) composite all added between 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent, with about 30 minutes left in the session.

Stocks had risen more in the late morning before scaling back a bit in the mid afternoon in response to a profit warning from Halliburton (down $2.40 to $30.00, Charts), the oilfield services company. However, the advance seemed to recharge in the late afternoon.

All three major gauges rose around 1 percent Monday in response to a rash of corporate deals.

Tuesday's gains were fueled by technology, transportation and commodity shares and sparked partly by the morning's housing report. Housing starts bounced back in Feb. after a big drop in Jan. Building permits, a measure of builder confidence, slipped more than expected. (Full story)

"We had a positive housing number this morning and the big overhang has been housing and how that could roil our profit and economic growth," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank. "Today's number probably added a little confidence to edgy investors."

However, the report is not likely to influence the central bankers, who are set to begin their two-day policy meeting later Tuesday, with a decision due Wednesday afternoon. The Fed is expected to hold interest rates steady at 5.25 percent for the sixth meeting in a row.

As always, investors will be attuned to what the statement says about the outlook for economy and interest rates. (Full story)

Accredited Home Lenders (up $2.05 to $11.00, Charts) jumped 20 percent on news that it has received a $200 million loan. The subprime mortgage lender has seen its stock battered over the past few weeks as it has struggled to raise money, with many of its partners cutting the company off because of the fallout in the sector.

Subprime mortgage companies - lenders to customers with weak credit - have been suffering lately as more people have defaulted on loans thanks to the decline in the housing market and the impact of higher interest rates.

Other subprime stocks jumped, too, including Fremont General (up $0.46 to $8.53, Charts) and NovaStar Financial (up $0.37 to $5.80, Charts).

Palm (up $0.69 to $18.83, Charts) gained 4 percent in active Nasdaq trade on reports that a sale of the device maker could be announced as soon as Thursday, when the company is due to report earnings.

Affiliated Computer Service (up $8.60 to $59.89, Charts) is being taken private by a group that includes the company's founder. The deal is worth $8.2 billion in cash and debt. Shares jumped 17 percent.

Dutch bank ABN AMRO (down $0.06 to $41.30, Charts) is in exclusive talks with rival Barclays (up $1.82 to $55.17, Charts) to be acquired for $80 billion, the two banks have confirmed.

ABN shares slipped, and Barclays shares jumped.

SanDisk (up $1.79 to $41.78, Charts) added 4 percent on a CIBC World Markets upgrade, Briefing.com reported.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers by 11 to 5 on volume of 1.17 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners 3 to 2 on volume of 1.45 billion shares.

U.S. light crude oil for April delivery rose 14 cents to $56.73 a barrel in volatile trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for April delivery rose $4.70 to $659 an ounce.

Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to about 4.54 percent from 4.56 percent late Monday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar inched higher versus the euro and fell versus the yen.

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