U.S. market indexes were mixed on Tuesday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lower at 18473.75 for a loss of -19.31 points or -0.10 percent. The S&P 500 was higher at 2169.18 for a gain of 0.70 points or 0.03 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 5110.05 for a gain of 12.42 points or 0.24 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 13.05 for a gain of 0.18 points or 1.40 percent.

Tuesday’s Market Movers

The Federal Open Market Committee began its July meeting on Tuesday which will conclude on Wednesday afternoon with a statement. The July meeting is not associated with a press conference and the Federal Reserve most likely will not raise rates in July.

Housing reports were the main focus for the day. The S&P Case-Shiller HPI was down -0.1 percent for the month. For the year the Index was up 5.2 percent. New home sales were also reported on Tuesday. New home sales increased to a level of 592,000 SAAR from 572,000 SAAR in the previous report. Also on Tuesday, consumer confidence was reported. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index was basically unchanged at 97.3. The consensus however was for an Index reading of 96.0.

Stocks trading actively on Tuesday included Bank of America, Gilead Sciences, Apple, Chesapeake Energy, General Electric, Intel, Ford and Microsoft.

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, stocks leading gains and losses included the following:

Losses (percent)
McDonald’s Corp              -4.47
Verizon Communications Inc       -1.9
Coca-Cola Co      -1.51

Gains (percent)
Caterpillar Inc    5.16
United Technologies Corp            3.1
Boeing Co            1.44

Top sectors for the day were industrial, materials, energy and technology.
Stocks leading gains in the technology sector included the following:

Linear Technology Corp 28.93
Texas Instruments Inc    7.85
Sirius XM Holdings Inc    4.82
NXP Semiconductors NV               4.71

In commodities, gold traded higher as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a gain of 0.53 points or 0.42 percent. The dollar was lower for the day as the U.S. Dollar Index was down -0.09 points or -0.09 percent at 97.17.

Small-Cap Stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 was higher at 1216.86 for a gain of 7.04 points or 0.58 percent. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index was higher at 743.72 for a gain of 4.53 points or 0.61 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index was higher at 7418.57 for a gain of 53.35 points or 0.72 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index was higher at 8729.65 for a gain of 39.60 points or 0.46 percent.

Other Notable Indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1554.71 for a gain of 7.91 points or 0.51 percent; the S&P 100 Index at 957.09 for a loss of -2.08 points or -0.22 percent; the Russell 3000 Index at 1281.29 for a gain of 1.50 points or 0.12 percent; the Russell 1000 Index at 1201.65 for a gain of 0.95 points or 0.08 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 623.22 for a loss of -0.46 points or -0.07 percent.