Stocks rise following US Steel, Amex earnings

Some of Wall Street’s earnings anxiety is easing - at least for the time being.
   
The market has had its second straight moderate advance, rising after companies including United States Steel Corp. and American Express Co. managed to post profits in a difficult recession.
   
The major indexes briefly stumbled after the Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index in January slipped to its lowest level since the reading’s inception in 1967. But investors were reassured that the recession isn’t taking a heavier toll on many big companies.
   
Financial stocks that were mostly higher also lent support to the market.
   
The Dow Jones industrials closed up 58 at 8,174, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 9 to 845.71. The Nasdaq composite gained 15, closed at 1,504.
   
Advancing issues were ahead of losers by more than 2 to 1. Volume on the New York Stock Exchange came to 1.17 billion shares.