U.S. stocks rose Tuesday, lifting the Standard & Poor's 500 index to another record high, as Wall Street considered quarterly corporate results and data that suggested U.S. inflation was benign and the housing market was improving. Analysts said investors also welcomed international diplomatic efforts to end the latest violence in the Middle East and resolve differences over the downing of a Malaysia Airlines jet in eastern Ukraine. In U.S. economic news, the government said its consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.3 percent last month after rising 0.4 percent in May. Core CPI, which excludes volatile energy and food costs, increased only 0.1 percent. The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes rose a better-than-expected 2.6 percent in June. The U.S. dollar rose versus the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude for August delivery fell 17 cents to $104.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures fell $7.60 to 1,306.30 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 68.29, or 0.4 percent, to 17,120.02. Twenty of the index's 30 components gained. Shares of Verizon rose after the telecommunications giant reported quarterly results. McDonald's shares fell 1.3 percent after the fast-food chain reported profit that missed estimates. The broader S&P 500 index rose 10.45, or 0.5 percent, to 1,984.08. Coca-Cola shares fell after the beverage maker reported a 3 percent drop in quarterly profit. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 31.85, or 0.7 percent, to 4,456.56.
