Dow finishes above 13,000 for first time since 2008

NEW YORK, (Xinhua) -US stocks ended higher on Tuesday as upbeat consumer data overcame the negative effect of poor housing and durable goods data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished above 13,000 for the first time since May 2008, while the Standard and Poor's 500 index ending at its highest level in nearly four years.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 23.61 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 13,005.12. The Standard and Poor's 500 was up 4. 59 points, or 0.34 percent, to 1,372.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 20.60 points, or 0.69 percent to 2,986.76.

On the economic front, the Conference Board said that the US consumer confidence jumped to a one-year high of 70.8 in February, from an upwardly revised 61.5 in January.

However, the US Commerce Department said that durable goods dropped 4 percent in January, logging the biggest decrease in almost three years, as business spending on machinery and equipment declined.

Meanwhile, core capital goods tumbled 4.5 percent, marking the biggest drop in a year. Also, the P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, which were regarded as the measure of US home prices, showed that the national composite index fell 3.8 percent during the fourth quarter of 2011 and dipped 4 percent year-on-year.

Both the 10 and 20-City Composite index fell 1.1 percent in December from November, and lost 3.9 percent and 4 percent compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.

The latest data showed that US home prices had dipped to new lows since the housing crisis began in mid-2006, suggesting the recovery of the housing market still has a long way to go. However, the upbeat consumer sentiment offset the negative effect of the disappointing housing and durable goods data and lifted the optimism in markets.

The ratings agency Standard and Poor's cut Greece's sovereign credit ratings late Monday to "selective default," but the move was widely expected. It also pointed out that once the debt swap operation concluded, it will likely to raise Greece's sovereign credit rating to the 'CCC' category.