MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks Advance After PMI Data

By Carla Mozee and Anora Mahmudova, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. stock market started the second half of 2014 on a positive note, with investors looking at auto sales, manufacturing activity and construction spending on Tuesday morning.

The S&P 500 (SPX) gained 8 points, or 0.4%, to 1,967.77, topping its previous record close reached on June 20.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) shot up 98 points, or 0.6%, at 16,925. The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) rose 33 points, or 0.7%, to 4,441.42.

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Markit's final reading of U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers index for June came in at 57.3, down from the 57.5 flash reading.

Ahead of the U.S. reports, two separate manufacturing PMIs from China showed improvement in June, but manufacturing activity in the euro zone slowed.

At 10 a.m. Eastern, the Institute for Supply Management's June manufacturing report is forecast to come in at 55.7%, edging from 55.4% in May. "Overall, the ISM continues to point to an expansion in the manufacturing sector, which has been one of the better-performing sectors in the U.S. economy," said Mizuho strategist Sireen Harajli in a Monday note.

A report on construction spending in May from the Commerce Department is expected at 10 a.m. Eastern. Outlays for projects are likely to rise 0.7%, according to economists polled by MarketWatch.

Investors will also pay attention to June car sales figures to assess the health of U.S. consumers.

General Motors Co. (GM.XX) shares were up 1.2% as the car maker reported that its U.S. car and light truck sales rose 1% in June to 267,461 vehicles. Retail sales rose 1% from a year ago while fleet sales rose 2%. Analysts had expected the company to report a slight drop in sales compared with June 2013.

Ford Motor Co. (F) shares dropped 0.4% after the company said U.S. vehicle sales fell 6% to 222,064 in June, as retail sales fell 5%, while fleet sales were off 7%.

Shares of Netflix Inc.(NFLX) rose 3.6% after Goldman Sachs equity analysts upgraded the stock to a buy, from neutral.

Shares of Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) were down 2.7% after analysts at Wedbush downgraded the stock to neutral from outperform, citing risks of a slowdown in the retailer's Anthropologie unit.

Oracle Corp. (ORCL)on Tuesday said it priced $10 billion in notes and plans to use the proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes. This may involve stock buybacks, paying cash dividends, repaying debt and funding future takeovers, including its pending acquisition of Micros Systems Inc. (MCRS) Oracle's bond pricing is among the largest corporate-bond deals of the year, according to a Wall Street Journal calculation.

Also in Silicon Valley news, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ)reached a settlement in three shareholder lawsuits related to its purchase of software firm Autonomy in 2011. Shares edged up 0.3%.

In other markets, Japan's Nikkei Average rose 1.1% and Europe's Stoxx 600 was higher, with BNP Paribas SA gaining after the French bank agreed to pay a record $8.8 billion settlement to U.S. authorities for violating U.S. sanctions.

U.S. benchmark crude-oil futures (CLQ4)rose 31 cents to $105.68 a barrel and gold futures (GCQ4)climbed $4.90 to $1,326.90 an ounce.

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