On The Fly: Top stock stories for Tuesday

Stocks began the session searching for direction but got a boost when it was reported that the Conference Board's consumer confidence index increased sharply in March to its highest level since December 2000. Consumers' view of current conditions improved considerably this month, while their assessment of the labor market was also more positive, the research association noted. Fed Chair Janet Yellen didn't comment on monetary policy or the economy in her prepared comments to a conference on community reinvestment, but Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said while being interviewed on CNBC that two more rate hikes this year seems to be "about right" to him. The averages continued to build on their momentum as the afternoon progressed, helping the Dow break its eight day losing streak, which was its longest since 2011. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., wholesale inventories rose 0.4%, while retail stocks rose 0.4% in February. The Case Shiller 20-City home price index rose 0.21% to 192.81 in the January reading, a little better than expected. The Richmond Fed manufacturing index rose 5 points to 22 in March following a similar 5 point jump in February. The Conference Board's consumer confidence reading surged 9.5 points to 125.6 in March from an upwardly revised 116.1 reading for February. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Ford (F) gained 1.7% after the carmaker said that it is investing $1.2B in three Michigan manufacturing facilities to strengthen its leadership in trucks and SUVs and support the company's expansion to an auto and mobility company. President Trump had tweeted earlier that Ford would be making a "big announcement" regarding investment plans and jobs, but Joseph Hinrichs, an Executive VP at the company, said while speaking on CNBC that the number of jobs announced today is consistent with plans the company had made public in 2015... While the President was driving attention to Ford, General Motors (GM) was the focus of a different billionaire this morning. GM shares advanced 2.4% after the company confirmed that its Board of Directors and management team have "thoroughly analyzed and rejected" a non-binding proposal from Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn related to creating a dual-class common stock structure. GM said eliminating the dividend on the existing GM common stock and distributing the proposed new "dividend security" creates an "unacceptable level of risk and would not serve the best interests of GM shareholders," though Einhorn is committed to pursuing the plan and has nominated a slate of four candidates for election to GM's board... Tesla (TSLA) rose 2.7% after China's Tencent Holdings (TCEHY) disclosed a new 5% stake in the electric car maker. Tencent said, "Elon Musk is the archetype for entrepreneurship, combining vision, ambition, and execution. Tesla is a global pioneer at the forefront of new technologies including electric vehicles, assisted driving, shared vehicles, digitizing real-world information, sustainable energy generation and scalable energy storage." Meanwhile, Musk tweeted, "Glad to have Tencent as an investor and advisor to Tesla." MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Darden Restaurants (DRI), which gained about 9.3% after the owner of Olive Garden reported better than expected third quarter results. Also higher was Sears Holdings (SHLD), which rose almost 20% after the two largest shareholders in the company disclosed that they added to their positions in the troubled department store after the stock sold off last week amid liquidity concerns. Additionally, Huntsman (HUN) rose by more than 5% after its Chairman Jon Huntsman Sr. said in an interview with Bloomberg that the company is "looking seriously at the possibility of doing a merger or doing something that would double or triple" its revenues. Among the noteworthy losers was SYNNEX (SNX), which fell 5% despite announcing first quarter results that beat expectations. Additionally, Snap Inc. (SNAP) dropped 6.8% after Facebook (FB) announced similar features to Snapchat, namely a new camera with effects and two additional ways to share the photos and videos that users take. INDEXES: The Dow rose 150.52, or 0.73%, to 20,701.50, the Nasdaq gained 34.77, or 0.6%, to 5,875.14, and the S&P 500 advanced 16.98, or 0.73%, to 2,358.57.