Wall Street ends on high

Wall Street finished higher on Tuesday as investors shrugged off disappointing housing and consumer confidence data to focus on a raft of stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings.

The Dow Jones industrials set a new trading high as they resumed their trek towards the 13,000 mark.

The Dow was up 34.54, or 0.27%, at 12,953.94. The index set a new intraday high of 12,989.86.

Broader markets were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 0.51, or 0.03%, at 1,480.42, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 0.87, or 0.03%, to 2,524.54.

The market spent most of the session narrowly mixed, but picked up momentum in mid-afternoon.

Investors seemed to lose some of the earlier caution they adopted after the National Association of Realtors reported sales of existing homes in March had their biggest one-month decline since January 1989.

Also, the Conference Board reported consumer confidence fell more than expected in April due to higher gas prices and broader economic concerns.

Robust first-quarter earnings reports have been driving the market higher over the past week, allowing the Dow to approach 13,000.