* American Express beats expectations, stock rises
* Consumer confidence falls to record low
* DuPont reports loss, trims 2009 forecast
* Dow up 0.5 pct, S&P up 0.8 pct, Nasdaq up 0.7 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click []
(Updates to late morning)
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK, Jan 27 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday,
boosted by standouts in a bleak earnings season, including
American Express <AXP.N>, but a fall in consumer confidence to
a record low in January revived worries over the economy's
health.
American Express led the Dow higher, gaining more than 6
percent to $16.19 after posting results late Monday that
surpassed expectations, though, like many companies, it warned
2009 will be tough.
"We've had some more numbers coming through that have been
-- I don't want to say good -- but to some extent not as bad as
people had thought," said Tim Smalls, head of U.S. stock
trading at brokerage firm Execution LLC in Greenwich,
Connecticut.
Chip maker Texas Instruments reported a quarterly profit
that fell less than feared and announced a 12 percent cut in
jobs, pushing its shares up 3.6 percent and helping the
Philadelpia Semiconductor Index <.SOXX> rise 3.2 percent.
U.S. Steel Corp <X.N> jumped 7.2 percent to $31.58 after
the steelmaker's profit jumped, helped by higher prices for
pipeline products for the oil and gas industry.
[].
The Dow Jones industrial average <> added 42.69 points,
or 0.53 percent, to 8,158.72. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> was up 6.37 points, or 0.76 percent, at 842.94. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <> rose 10.46 points, or 0.70
percent, tp 1,499.92.
The S&P financial index <.GSPF> was up 2.2 percent.
Stocks cut gains after the Conference Board's U.S. consumer
confidence index fell to a record low in January as the
beaten-down housing sector and jitters over job prospects
weighed.
"When you have consumer confidence come out and question
yet again the strength of any kind of activity economically,
you're going to have those gains really pare down," said Bruce
Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta Global Advisors in
Boston.
Despite some bright spots, analysts have called the
earnings season overall a weak one, as expected, with companies
warning of more pain to come and making deep job cuts in the
wake of the global economic downturn.
Verizon Communications Inc <VZ.N>, the No. 2 U.S. phone
company, was the Dow's biggest weight after it reported
fewer-than-expected wireless subscribers and warned on earnings
for 2009. Verizon was down 5 percent at $29.45, while AT&T
<T.N> fell 2.9 percent to $26.04.
Dow component DuPont Co <DD.N> reported a loss, hurt by a
decline in demand, and trimmed its full-year 2009 forecast.
Shares of the chemical maker were down 3.1 percent at $22.46.
[].
Following Monday's confirmation of Timothy Geithner as
Treasury secretary, the New York Federal Reserve Bank on
Tuesday named William Dudley as his replacement as president of
the regional Fed bank.
Dudley, a former Goldman Sachs chief economist, has played
a central role in the Fed's response to the financial crisis
[].
The Federal Reserve's monetary policy-setting Federal Open
Market Committee begins a two-day meeting on Tuesday and
investors will be watching for signals of any nonconventional
methods of fighting the credit crisis the Fed might employ.
Economists expect the central bank will leave benchmark
interest rates unchanged at zero to 0.25 percent.
(Editing by Leslie Adler)
