NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A bit of late buying rescued U.S. stock markets Tuesday and sent them higher for the second day in a row on the back of encouraging earnings news and an unexpectedly strong improvement in consumer confidence in April.

Having rallied in the first hour or so of trading, the major indexes promptly retreated and spent the better part of the day hugging the unchanged line. But as the session entered its last half hour, buying picked up. The Nasdaq composite (up 9.06 to 1471.30, Charts) closed at its highest level for the year.

Both the Dow Jones industrial average (up 31.38 to 8502.99, Charts) and the S&P 500 index (up 3.00 to 917.84, Charts) scored gains as well.

"The good thing is that the trend remains positive," said Donald Selkin, director of research at Joseph Stevens.

The Dow and the broader market climbed about 2 percent Monday on earnings news from McDonald's (MCD: up $0.35 to $17.28, Research, Estimates) and Procter & Gamble (PG: up $0.16 to $90.85, Research, Estimates). The market managed to extend these gains Tuesday following an equally pleasing quarterly update from DuPont and the strong consumer confidence report.

Limiting the gains to some degree was the fact that the week's key economic reports are still to come and some investors chose to sit it out until they get more clear signs of where the economy is heading in the wake of the Iraq war.

Wednesday will bring the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, a regional manufacturing survey. Thursday will bring the Institute for Supply Management's report on manufacturing nationwide, and Friday will deliver the monthly unemployment and payrolls report.

The April consumer confidence index, released by the Conference Board, came in at 81, well above March's revised 61.4 and also significantly exceeding the expected 68.7.

Consumers are responsible for two-thirds of economic activity in the country and many on Wall Street are betting that the end of the Iraq war will bring spenders back to the malls and give the economy a much needed and delayed kick-start.

The report came on the back of a stronger-than-expected reading on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan on Friday, as well as Monday's UBS/Gallup survey that showed investor optimism rose in April to its highest level in 10 months.

On the earnings front, Tuesday it was the turn of Dow member DuPont (DD: up $0.64 to $42.37, Research, Estimates) to report good results. The stock rose about 1.5 percent, even after the chemicals maker warned that its results in the second quarter will fall short of expectations. But DuPont returned to profitability in the first quarter, boasting stronger sales, despite the rising cost of energy and raw materials.

With more than two-thirds of the S&P 500 companies having already reported results, earnings news has largely been positive, analysts said. Although second-quarter forecasts have been muted, companies' projections for the second half of the year have been somewhat better.

Among other stocks moving Tuesday, shares of Swedish telecom Ericsson (ERICY: Research, Estimates) surged more than 19 percent in active trade on the Nasdaq, pulling up other companies in the sector, after the firm said it will cut 13,000 jobs through the end of 2004 in an attempt to return to profitability after reporting a quarterly loss.

Market breadth was slightly positive, with winners edging out losers six to four on the New York Stock Exchange, which saw volume of 1.5 billion shares traded. On the Nasdaq, advancers held a small lead over decliners and volume reached 1.6 billion shares.

U.S. Treasury bonds fell. The 10-year note lost 6/32 of a point in price, its yield rising to 3.93 percent. The dollar fell against both the yen and the euro.

Oil continued to lose ground. Light sweet crude futures shed 25 cents to settle at $25.24 a barrel in New York. Gold shed 80 cents to $334 an ounce in New York.

European stock markets closed higher. Stocks climbed in Asia overnight as well.