Wall Street gains on data, earnings

Strong US home prices data, decent earnings provide investor boost.

United States stocks closed mostly higher in the wake of a solid report on home prices and decent earnings results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat, down 1.38 points, or 0.01%, to 15,520.59 points.

The broad-based S&P 500 inched up 0.63 points, or 0.04%, at 1,685.96 points.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index increased 17.33 points, or 0.48%, to 3,616.47 points.

Stocks had retreated on Monday ahead of a busy week of economic news, including a Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting that opens on Tuesday and the monthly jobs report on Friday.

Investors were especially cautious in the latest session, hesitant to make any major moves before the outcome of the two-day Fed policy meeting.

Tuesday's trading came after the S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices showed prices in the 20 largest US cities increased 2.4% in May compared with April, and were up a better-than-expected 12.2% from May 2012.

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and a number of smaller companies also reported earnings, with most of the bigger companies meeting or exceeding profit expectations.