North American stocks ended Tuesday little changed, after another round of upbeat earnings collided with a setback in consumer confidence.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 10,537.69, up 12.26 points or 0.1 per cent. The broader S&P 500 closed at 1,113.84, down 1.17 points or 0.1 per cent. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index closed at 11,716.69 points or 0.3 per cent.
The day began looking relatively promising, with strong earnings from European banks UBS AG and Deutsche Bank AG, along with a raised earnings forecast from U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. Rising U.S. home prices in May, though apparently driven by generous government tax credits, also helped drive investor optimism higher.
However, the Conference Board's consumer confidence index for July brought rising sentiment back to earth. Confidence slipped to 50.4 from 54.3, below the average expectation among economists and the second straight setback.
Commodities were weak, with gold tumbling to $1,158 (U.S.) an ounce, down $25.10. Among gold producers, Barrick Gold Corp. fell 3.9 per cent and Goldcorp Inc. fell 3.4 per cent.
As well, crude oil fell to $77.50 a barrel, down $1.48. However, oil producers were mixed, following upbeat earnings from Talisman Energy Inc., which sent the stock up 2.3 per cent. Suncor Energy Inc. fell 0.6 per cent and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. rose 0.4 per cent.
In other moves, Rogers Communications Inc. fell 1.5 per cent after it reported upbeat quarterly earnings that nonetheless revealed that the cable and wireless company was struggling to attract new cell phone subscribers amid rising competition.
Among key U.S. stocks, DuPont rose 3.6 per cent after the chemicals producer reported strong second quarter earnings that were up nearly threefold over last year. Bank of America Corp. and General Electric Co. rose 0.3 per cent each.
Meanwhile, American Express Co. fell 1.9 per cent and Home Depot Inc. fell 1.4 per cent.