U.S. stocks ended higher Tuesday, as investors received solid corporate earnings reports and economic data. In world markets, European stocks finished higher, with the FTSE 100 in Britain and the DAX in Germany both rising 1.3 percent. Asians markets also finished higher, led by the Shanghai Composite rising 0.6 percent. In U.S. economic news, U.S. home prices continued their sharp drop during the first three months of the year, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors. The average price on a single family home in the United States now stands at $158,700, down 4.6 percent from a year ago. Meanwhile, the U.S. Labor Department said that the price of imports into the United States increased 2.2 percent in April, while exports only increased 1.1 percent. The U.S. Commerce Department said wholesale companies increased their stockpiles for the 15th consecutive month in March. The department said supply levels at warehouses rose 1.1 percent in March. Sales among wholesalers increased 2.9 percent and have risen in eight of the last nine months. The U.S. dollar rose versus the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for June delivery rose $1.13 to $103.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $15 to $1,518 an ounce. Silver prices rose $1.50 to $38.66 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 75.68, or 0.6 percent, to 12,760.36. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 10.87, or 0.8 percent, to 1,357.16. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 28.64, or 1.0 percent, to 2,871.89.
