U.S. stocks closed higher Tuesday, as confidence returned to Wall Street. In U.S. economic news, consumer confidence hit a 6-year high, climbing to 82.3 in March from an upwardly revised 78.3 in February. That said, new home sales dropped 3.3 percent in February, and home prices slipped 0.1 percent in January from the frigid winter. This was the third month that the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index declined, although year over year, the index is up 13.2 percent. In international economic news, European markets finished higher. Asian stock markets mostly ended lower, though the moves down were modest. The dollar lost ground against the euro, the pound, and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for May delivery dropped 41 cents to $99.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures added 20 cents to $1,311.40 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 91.19, or 0.56 percent, to 16,367.88. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index moved up 8.18, or 0.44 percent, to 1,865.62. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 7.88, or 0.19 percent, to 4,234.27.
