Stocks Falter on Quarter's Last Day

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The major indices closed as much as 1% higher Monday as financier Bernard Madoff was given a 150-year prison sentence, and portfolio managers made adjustments for the end of the quarter, sometimes referred to as window-dressing.

The S&P Case Shiller Home Price Index for April showed that home prices in 20 metropolitan areas dipped 0.6% in April from March. Prices were still 18.1% lower than a year earlier, but the month-over-month decline was an improvement over a 2.2% drop the month prior.

Meanwhile, the Chicago purchasing managers index for June increased to 39.9 from 34.9 a month prior. That was slightly better than expected.

Those data, however, were offset by the decline in consumer confidence, the effects of which reached commodities. Crude oil futures fell $1.60 to $69.89 a barrel after surging more than $2 Monday. (The dollar, meanwhile, was slightly weaker vs. the yen and slightly stronger against the pound and euro.)

Iraq opened up a bid process for six of its oil and two of its gas fields to foreign companies on Tuesday for the first time in more than 30 years, hoping that it will contribute to postwar reconstruction.

In corporate news, Carlyle Group, Primus Financial and MBK Partners may look to acquire Nan Shan Life Insurance, the Taiwanese subsidiary of American International Group (AIG Quote), Bloomberg reports.

Separately, Tuesday was AIG's annual meeting . Executives of the insurance giant said there is an "excellent chance" it will be able to repay the government's massive loan and that AIG is actually "more stable than before," but shares fell 12.8%.