By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks began mildly higher on Tuesday, extending gains into a second day, as reports on manufacturing in Europe and China lifted sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +0.75% gained 56.28 points to 10,910.93, with 25 of its 30 components rising.
Bank of America Corp. BAC -4.21% , however, fell 3.9%.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index SPX +0.69% climbed 3.44 points to 1,127.26.
The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP +1.10% rose 13.52 points to 2,358.90.
Later in the session, the Commerce Department reports on new-home sales in July.
Central bankers from around the globe gather this week in Jackson Hole, Wyo., for a meeting that last year had Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicating a second round of asset purchases otherwise known as quantitative easing two.
Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald, said it’s not entirely clear what Wall Street wants from Bernanke this time.
“Most don’t want to see a straight-up QE3 program, as it would offer nothing new. In an environment where the one thing that is lacking is ‘confidence,’ we don’t want to see the Fed chairman panicking. On the flip side, to do nothing might be seen as complacent, and hurt the markets,” said Pado.
