U.S. stocks gain on earnings, talk of Fed staying loose; Dow up 0.52%

Investing.com - U.S. stock prices rose on Tuesday as fourth-quarter earnings continued to beat expectations.

Talk the Federal Reserve will make no changes to loose monetary policies at a meeting due to wrap up on Wednesday sent prices edging up as well.

At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.52%, the S&P 500 index was up 0.51%, while the Nasdaq Composite index slipped 0.02%.

Fourth-quarter earnings continue to come in better than expected, with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Valero Energy beating out market forecasts earlier, among many others.

Stocks also rose and the dollar weakened amid mumblings that the Fed may leave policy unchanged this week.

The Federal Reserve will conclude a monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, and investors went long on stocks amid murmurings that the U.S. central bank will not alter its USD85 billion quantitative easing program even if it makes mention over when such a time may occur.

U.S. economic indicators have repeatedly beat expectations in recent months, and recent Federal Reserve language has many market participants expecting monetary authorities to soon consider winding down stimulus measures, though investors were betting such a decision won't come this week.

Elsewhere in the U.S., housing data met expectations while consumer confidence data did not.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index rose at an annualized rate of 5.5% in November from a year earlier, in line with market consensus.

Month-on-month, U.S. home prices rose 0.6% in November compared to expectations for a 0.7% increase, after rising by 0.7% in the preceding month.

Separately, the Conference Board reported that its index of U.S. consumer confidence fell to 58.6 in January from 66.7 in December, missing expectations for a decline to 64.0.

Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Pfizer, up 3.28%, Verizon Communications, up 1.73%, and Merck, up 1.72%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included Hewlett-Packard, down 3.11%, Cisco, down 1.33%, and Walt Disney, down 0.68%.

European indices, meanwhile, finished higher.

After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.17%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.13%, while Germany's DAX 30 finished up 0.20%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 finished up 0.71%.

On Wednesday, the U.S. is to release data on private sector payrolls compiled by payroll processing firm ADP.

The U.S. will also unveil preliminary data on fourth-quarter economic growth and weekly government data on crude stockpiles.

Market watchers will keep a close eye on the Fed's monetary policy statement as well.