Stocks: Tuesday’s review

Most European stocks declined as demand fell at a Spanish debt auction, U.S. consumer confidence sank to a five-month low and Germany criticized European Union proposals to address the financial crisis for putting too much emphasis on debt sharing.

Demand declined and yields rose at an auction of Spanish debt. Spain sold three-month bills at an average 2.362 percent, compared with 0.846 percent at the last auction on May 22, and six-month bills at an average rate of 3.237 percent, compared with 1.737 percent last month. Demand for the three-month securities was 2.6 times the amount sold, compared with 3.95 times in May, while the bid-to-cover ratio for the six-month bills was 2.82 compared with 4.3.

FTSE 100 5,446.96 -3.69 -0.07%, CAC 40 3,012.71 -8.93 -0.30%, DAX 6,136.69 +4.30 +0.07%

Infineon Technologies AG tumbled the most in three years after cutting its sales forecast.

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG slid 2.6 percent as Citigroup Inc. downgraded the world’s biggest maker of luxury vehicles.

U.S. stocks advanced, rebounding from yesterday’s selloff, as optimism about the housing market tempered concern about a worsening of Europe’s debt crisis.

Equities rose today as the S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities dropped 1.9 percent in April from the same month in 2011, the smallest decline since November 2010, after decreasing 2.6 percent in the year ended March. The data overshadowed a surge in yields at auctions in Italy and Spain ahead of a European Union summit on June 28.

News Corp. rallied 8.3 percent to $21.76, the highest level since 2007. Murdoch, the chairman and CEO, is overseeing internal discussions on whether to separate the company’s publishing business from its entertainment holdings, said two people with knowledge of the matter. In a statement today, News Corp. didn’t say how the company would be divided.

Apollo advanced 10 percent to $35.81 for the largest gain in the Bloomberg U.S. For-Profit Education Index. The company, confronting student reluctance to take on debt amid high unemployment and government investigations of for-profit colleges’ marketing practices, reined in costs during the quarter, said Peter Appert, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) had its recommendation raised and Morgan Stanley (MS) was lowered by analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., who said they have a better view of the near-term earnings outlook for JPMorgan. Shares of JPMorgan increased 1.1 percent to $35.71, while Morgan Stanley added 0.2 percent to $13.51.

Dow Chemical Co. slid 2.9 percent to $31.32. The largest U.S. chemical company by revenue was downgraded to neutral from overweight at JPMorgan by equity analyst Jeffrey Zekauskas. The 18-month share-price estimate is $36.