U.S stocks gain on consumer confidence and housing data; Dow up 0.69%

U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday after better-than-expected consumer confidence and housing data fueled hopes the world's largest economy continues to make fundamental improvements.

At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.69%, the S&P 500 index ended up 0.95%, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.82%.

U.S. consumer confidence rose to its highest level since January 2008 this month.

The Conference Board said its index of U.S. consumer confidence rose to 81.4 in June from 74.3 in May, well above expectations for a reading of 75.4.

Elsewhere, the Commerce Department said U.S. orders for durable goods rose 3.6% in May, outstripping expectations for a 3.0% gain, which also fueled the rally along with good news out of the housing market.

The Commerce Department said U.S. new home sales rose by 2.1% to 476,000 units in May, the highest level since July 2008 and well above expectations for an increase of 1.3% to 462,000. 

Home prices are on the rise as well.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city house price index rose 12.1% in April from a year earlier, above expectations for a 10.6% increase. 

U.S. home prices in March rose by 10.9%.

Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Bank of America, up 3.09%, Verizon Communications, up 2.69%, and JPMorgan Chase, up 2.26%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included UnitedHealth Group, down 1.45%, Merck, down 0.39%, and Microsoft, down 0.12%.

European indices, meanwhile, finished higher.

After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 1.26%, France's CAC 40 rose 1.51%, while Germany's DAX 30 finished up 1.55%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 finished up 1.21%.

On Wednesday, the U.S. is to release revised data on first-quarter economic growth as well as government data on crude oil stockpiles.