Stocks Get Data Boost

(Updated with closing prices.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Investors looked for consumers to "turn the corner," as one market observer put it Tuesday. Economic data supported a broad-based rise in stocks as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was renominated.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 30.01 points, or 0.3%, to 9539.29, while the S&P 500 climbed 2.43 points, or 0.2%, to 1028. The Nasdaq Composite was up 6.25 points, or 0.3%, to 2024.23.

Home-price data juiced housing stocks, and the broader indices got an upward jolt after the Conference Board reported that consumer confidence rose to 54.1 in August, from 46.6 the month prior and well above expectations for 47.9.

"When we're in the turning point in a recession, you want to see some confidence there so you have the sense that they'll get back to increasing spending and turn the corner," says Kurt Karl, chief U.S. economist for Swiss Re. "It's a very tough time for consumers, and you want to see them become more confident," but in this case, factors like unemployment make that difficult, he adds.

Notably, while the present situation index increased just slightly to 24.9 from 23.3 last month, the expectations index improved more significantly to 73.5, its highest level since December 2007, from 63.4 in July.

"Sure we may see a little more spending coming out of the consumers, a little more than we expected," says Hugh Johnson, chairman and chief investment officer of Johnson Illington Advisors. "But basically, consumer balance sheets are very, very leveraged, and the whole process of deleveraging those balance sheets, which really means increasing savings and reducing the level of borrowing and spending, is probably going to be ongoing."