(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) U.S. stocks rose Tuesday with the Dow and the S&P 500 settling at new records after Janet Yellen delivered her first day of testimony on Capitol Hill today saying the central bank was preparing to consider rate hikes on a "meeting by meeting basis" with the timing dependent on economic data.
At the closing bell in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 93 points to settle at 18210 while the Nasdaq climbed for its 10th straight session rising by 7 points to end at 4968. The S&P 500 gained 6 points to finish at 2116.
In her testimony to the Senate Banking committee Yellen said there is still room for improvement in the labor market while also stressing that if the word "patient" was removed from the Fed's policy guidance it wouldn't mean an automatic rate hike in the next couple of meetings. She said Fed officials would increase interest rates when they are reasonably confident that low inflation is moving back towards the central bank's 2% annual target.
The Fed chairwoman will also appear before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.
Ahead of this the S&P Case Shiller report on home prices for December showed a sharp month-on-month gain of 0.9% the strongest monthly gain since March last year. Year-on-year growth was 4.5% versus November's 4.3% as expected.
The Conference Board also released its consumer confidence index which fell to a lower-than-expected 96.4 this month down from a revised 103.8 in January.
European markets finished higher today after Greece's finance minister Yanis Varoufakis sent a list of reform proposals around midnight just meeting a deadline set up by its international creditors. Stocks in Greece rose. Japanese stocks also climbed to a fresh 15-year high as the yen weakened against the dollar ahead of Yellen's testimony.
In corporate activity () reported this morning quarterly earnings and revenue that topped estimates. The home improvement retailer also said that currency fluctuations would impact its full year profits.
Macy's () fell 3.2% after the company's fourth quarter profit beat estimates while sales fell short. Its full year earnings forecast also disappointed.
Toll Brothers () gained 3.75% after its earnings and revenue handily topped forecasts as it sold more homes at higher prices.
Scripts' () adjusted profit came in one penny above estimates while revenue was essentially in line with views. The pharmacy benefits manager also issued current quarter and full year guidance short of forecasts.
(NYSE:BHP) topped estimates with its latest earnings despite reporting a 47% year-over-year drop in net profit as its two most important commodities iron ore and oil collapsed in value last year. The miner promised to maintain or increase its dividend. Shares climbed 5.6% on Tuesday.
After the closing bell Tuesday Hewlett-Packard () is among the companies headlining quarterly results along with DreamWorks () and First Solar ().
In other stock news First Solar and (NASDAQ:SPWR) said late yesterday they are in talks to form a joint venture to hold some of their solar power generating assets. The joint venture would potentially be listed in an IPO.
Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) said it is buying privately held Sterne Agee for $150 million as part of efforts to expand its brokerage business.
Gold for April delivery settled down 0.3% at $1197.30 an ounce. The contract dropped to an intraday low as Yellen’s prepared remarks hit but then recovered much of that slide. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for delivery in April lost 0.3% to close at $49.28 a barrel losing ground for a fifth straight session as traders awaited the latest round of supply data.
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