US markets flat Tuesday

The Dow Jones industrial averaged dropped nominally Tuesday, after two economic reports came in lower than expected. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index rose 12.2 percent in May compared to a forecast that called for a 12.4 percent rise. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to 80.3 in July. Economists had expected the index to come in at 81.5. The DJIA added 72 points in midday trading, but eased back to close at 15,520.59, off 1.38 points or 0.01 percent. The Standard & Poor\'s 500 closed at 1,685.96, adding 0.63 points or 0.04 percent. The tech-dominated Nasdaq index closed at 3,616.47, adding 17.33 points or 0.48 percent. On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,570 issues advanced, while 1,493 declined on volume of 3.3 billion shares traded. The 10-year treasury note fell 3/32 to yield 2.617 percent. Japan\'s Nikkei index gained 1.53 percent or 208.69 points to 13,869.82. In Britain, the FTSE 100 index added 0.16 percent or 10.70 points to 6,570.95. In after-hours trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil was down $1.45 or 1.39 percent to $103.03 a barrel. Gold shed $3.50 or 0.26 percent to close at $1,326.10 per troy ounce on the NYMEX Comex division while silver lost 17.9 cents to close at $19.685, off 0.9 percent. On currency markets, the euro was lower at $1.3264. The dollar fell to 98.02 yen. On the Chicago Board of Trade, December corn was up 3 1/2 to $4.76 3/4, November soybeans were off 17 3/4 to settle at $12.02 1/4 and September wheat was up 3 3/4 at $6.55 1/4.