US stocks were mixed Tuesday as home prices stabilized and consumer confidence took a beating, giving investors conflicting signals on the pace of economic recovery from recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 66.96 points (0.68 percent) at 1550 GMT to 9,934.92, rebounding from two consecutive sessions of declines. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 7.06 points (0.33 percent) to 2,134.79 and the broad- market Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 3.28 points (0.31 percent) to 1,070.23. The market reacted to private data Tuesday which showed that the fall in US home prices eased further in August, and consumer confidence declined sharply in October. Investors, who have been evaluating third-quarter earnings of companies which were mostly better than expected, are turning their attention to economic data to capture the momentum of any recovery from recession. 'We believe the shift in focus is turning back to economic reports and away from earnings reports,' said Wells Fargo Advisors senior market strategist Scott Marcouiller. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index on Monday showed home prices in major US cities fell in August but posted the smallest drop in 19 months, signaling the housing slump at the center of financial crisis was stabilizing. The index showed an 11.3 percent year-over-year decline in home prices in 20 major metropolitan areas -- the smallest drop since January 2008. Analysts had expected an 11.9 percent fall in August. As the market welcomed the news, the Conference Board, a private research firm, said that US consumer confidence fell sharply in October amid growing worries about rising unemployment and job security. The board's consumer confidence index declined for the second month in a row, to 47.7 in October from a revised 53.4 in September. The October index drop was much steeper than expected by Wall Street, with most analysts expecting a 53.5 reading. Stocks slumped on the fresh consumer confidence data but rose again as computer giant IBM boosted its share repurchase program by five billion dollars. The new funding is in addition to 4.2 billion dollars remaining from an earlier stock-buyback authorization. IBM said it planned to request more stock buyback authorizations in April. 'The announcement not only bodes well for existing shareholders by reducing the number of outstanding shares to bolster earnings per share, but it also provides a sign to the broader market that some companies are now willing to fund activities like buybacks and dividends, rather than stash the cash in their coffers amid economic tumult,' analysts at Briefing.com said in a note. IBM was among gainers, rising 1.18 percent to 121.53 dollars. Home improvement retailer Home Depot fell 0.08 percent to 26.08 dollars while ExxonMobil rose 2.27 percent 74.89 dollars and rival Chevron climbed 2.32 percent to 77.20 dollars. The bond market rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond retreated to 3.514 percent from 3.554 percent Monday and that on the 30-year bond fell to 4.340 percent from 4.366 percent. Bond yield and prices move in opposite directions. 