US STOCKS-Confidence data, earnings lift Wall Street

                                

                                
 * Consumer confidence rises more than expected
                                
 * Travelers boosts Dow index, but Verizon and J&J weigh
                                
 * Apple results lift Nasdaq
                                
 * Indexes up: Dow 0.5 pct, S&P 0.3 pct, Nasdaq 0.4 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click [STXNEWS/US]
 (Updates to late afternoon, changes byline)
                                
 By Chuck Mikolajczak
                                
 NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as
consumer confidence data lifted optimism about the economy's
improvement and results from Travelers Cos <TRV.N> and Apple
Inc <AAPL.O> added to a stream of strong profit reports.
                                
 Travelers <TRV.N> was the top boost on the Dow, up 3.1
percent to $50.41, after the property-casualty insurer posted a
profit that beat Wall Street's estimate.  For details see
[ID:nN26225550]
                                
 After a lower open, stocks reversed course after data
showed consumer confidence rose for a third straight month in
January to its highest level since September 2008, easing
concerns about individual spending. [ID:nN26357538] Sectors
that benefit from an improved economic outlook were among top
performers, including the S&P tech sector <.GSPT>, up 0.6
percent. The S&P Retail index <.RLX> advanced 0.8 percent.
                                
 "We've kind of had some mediocre numbers starting
mid-December, and this is one on the upside. The consumer
confidence number here is a meaningful lift," said Peter
Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments
LLC in Lisle, Illinois.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 51.92
points, or 0.51 percent, to 10,248.78. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> rose 3.10 points, or 0.28 percent, to
1,099.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 8.58 points,
or 0.39 percent, to 2,219.38.
                                
 The Federal Reserve's policy-setting committee began a
two-day meeting on Tuesday against the backdrop of a Senate
debate over Chairman Ben Bernanke's reconfirmation. The meeting
is expected to yield few policy shifts. [ID:nN26106537].
                                
 Stocks opened lower on concerns about a Chinese government
clampdown on bank lending. Banking sources said China's central
bank told some banks to increase their reserve ratios to curb
excessive lending.  [ID:nSGE60P039]
                                
 iPhone maker Apple gained 4.6 percent to $212.16, a day
after reporting strong quarterly results and on growing
anticipation over its tablet product launch on Wednesday.
[ID:nSGE60P0BA]
                                
 Apple provided the biggest lift to the Nasdaq, followed by
Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O>, up 1.1 percent to $29.61, which is
scheduled to report results later this week.
                                
 Other Dow components posting results included DuPont
<DD.N>, which gained 0.2 percent at $32.88, but Johnson &
Johnson <JNJ.N> , which gave a conservative forecast, dipped
0.8 percent to $62.73. [ID:nN26102594] [ID:nN26110172]
                                
 Verizon Communications <VZ.N> slipped 2.2 percent to $30
after the phone company reported its fourth-quarter results and
said it is facing a slower-than-expected economic recovery.
[ID:nN26198698].
                                
 (Editing by Kenneth Barry)