Dow inches closer to 13,000

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Dow industrials rose Tuesday, moving ever closer to the 13,000 mark, while the broader market struggled as investors weighed upbeat corporate earnings and lower oil prices with weaker readings on housing and consumer confidence.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 34.54 to 12,953.94, Charts) added 0.3 percent, retreating after hitting an intraday record of 12,989.86 during the session. It ended just a few points shy of the record closing high of 12,961.98 reached Friday.

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The broader S&P 500 (down 0.52 to 1,480.41, Charts) index ended near unchanged and not far from a more than six-year high. The Nasdaq (up 0.87 to 2,524.54, Charts) added little and was not far from a six-year high.

Treasury prices rose, lowering the corresponding yields. The dollar fell versus the euro and was little changed versus the yen. Oil prices dropped two percent and gold prices slipped.

After the close, Amazon.com (Charts, Fortune 500) reported higher quarterly sales and earnings that topped estimates and said second-quarter and full-year revenue would top current estimates. Shares jumped 8 percent in extended-hours trading.

Wednesday morning, earnings are due from Dow component Boeing (Charts, Fortune 500), as well as Corning (Charts, Fortune 500), PepsiCo (Charts, Fortune 500) and UPS (Charts, Fortune 500) among others.

Reports are also due Wednesday morning on March new home sales, durable goods orders and weekly oil inventories. In the afternoon, the Fed's "beige book" read on the economy is expected.

Stocks struggled throughout the session as investors welcomed upbeat corporate news and lower oil prices, but held back amid the discouraging economic news.

Texas Instruments, Altera and DuPont all reported solid earnings or issued bullish forecasts. Meanwhile, IBM's $15 billion share buyback plan made the stock the Dow's biggest gainer.

"We're seeing a market that's able to shrug off some bad news on the home sales front, because a lot of concern about the housing market has already been priced in," said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co.

Stocks have been getting a help from the earnings reports, which have mostly been beating reduced estimates. In addition, the guidance about future quarters has been largely positive.

"We haven't heard lackluster guidance from companies like we did last quarter," Hogan said. "That means some folks in corporate America are willing to stick their neck out and say things don't look bad in the next couple of quarters."

S&P 500 earnings are currently on track to have risen 5.2 percent from a year ago, according to the latest Thomson Financial estimates.

However, stock gains Tuesday were pretty mild, suggesting that investors may already have factored in stronger earnings - as was evident in last week's rally.

The Dow ended last week at an all-time high, while the S&P and Nasdaq ended the week at more than 6-year highs.

"I think the market is now at a point where it's discounting the better than expected earnings and forecasts," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners.

As the Dow tries to surpass 13,000, stocks could be choppy, with investors taking their time about pushing the index over the key psychological level.

What's working in the Dow's favor is that beyond the psychology, there are no technical market factors that would impede the blue-chip leader's progress in the short term, wrote Katie Townshend, MKM Partner's technical market analyst, in a note Tuesday.

In corporate news, IBM (up $3.28 to $98.49, Charts, Fortune 500) announced Tuesday that it was increasing its quarterly dividend to 40 cents per share from 30 cents per share. The company also said it has authorized an additional $15 billion for stock repurchases in addition to $1.4 billion that remained at the end of March from a previous authorization.

IBM shares jumped 3.5 percent.

Late Monday, Texas Instruments (up $2.51 to $34.92, Charts, Fortune 500) reported lower quarterly earnings and revenue that topped estimates. The chipmaker issued second-quarter earnings per share and revenue forecasts in a range that could meet or exceed analysts' expectations. TI shares jumped 7.7 percent Tuesday.

Fellow chipmaker Altera (up $1.64 to $22.96, Charts) reported higher quarterly earnings that beat estimates late Monday, sending shares higher Tuesday.

Advanced Micro Devices (up $0.53 to $14.57, Charts, Fortune 500) surged after the chipmaker said it will offer $1.8 billion in convertible senior notes in a private offering to institutional buyers.

Dow stock DuPont (up $0.67 to $49.86, Charts, Fortune 500) reported higher quarterly sales and earnings Tuesday that topped estimates, sending shares higher.

Dow stock Honeywell (up $1.67 to $52.90, Charts, Fortune 500) rose more than 3 percent after it announced a quarterly dividend Monday of $0.25 per share.

Fellow Dow stock AT&T (down $0.67 to $39.10, Charts, Fortune 500) reported higher quarterly earnings that topped estimates Tuesday morning. But the stock slipped amid some analyst concerns about its wireless customer growth numbers.

Amarin (down $2.95 to $0.83, Charts) slumped 78 percent in unusually active Nasdaq trading after the drugmaker said that its treatment for Huntington's disease was not shown to be effective in two late-stage trials.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges against two former Apple (Charts, Fortune 500) executives for their alleged involvement in back dating stock options. One of the executives, former chief financial officer Fred Anderson agreed to pay a fine and also blamed the company's CEO, Steve Jobs.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners by roughly 9 to 7 on volume of 1.65 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers by 8 to 7 on volume of 2.28 billion shares.

In economic news, existing home sales came in lower than expected, falling to a 6.12 million unit annual rate in March from a 6.69 million unit rate in February. Economists thought sales would fall to a 6.45 million unit rate.

The Consumer Confidence index fell to 104 in April from a revised 108.2 in March. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought it would fall to 105.

Both reports seemed to play into worries about the pace of the economic growth slowdown, ahead of the first-quarter GDP report, due Friday.

U.S. light crude oil for June delivery fell $1.31 to $64.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for June delivery fell $6.50 to $687.70 an ounce.

Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 4.62 percent from 4.65 percent late Monday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar fell against the euro and was barely changed versus the yen.