Stocks Pare Gains After confidence data (LEN, AFFY, AEO, SKX, APOL, RCII, AMZN)

U.S. stocks came off session highs on Tuesday with the Dow dipped into negative territory after data showed U.S. consumer confidence dipped in March.The Dow Jones industrial average was down 10 points, or 0.09 percent, at 13,232. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 1.30 points, or 0.09 percent, at 1,417.81. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 7.87 points, or 0.25 percent, at 3,130.29.

On Monday, major indices closed higher by over 1% on upbeat comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who indicated that the monetary policy would continue to be light despite the recent development in the job markets. Some even speculated it could mean the Fed would be willing to buy up more bonds.

Today, data showed that U.S. home prices continued to slid for the fifth consecutive month and hit 9 years low.
The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index fell 0.8% in the month of January. The three-month rolling index includes transactions that took place from November to January.Over the past 12 months, prices have fallen 3.8% even though the U.S. economy has shown increasing signs of recovery. Sixteen of the 20 metropolitan areas posted declines, while only Miami, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., saw increases.

Lennar Corporation(NYSE:LEN) shares jumped over 3% after reported stronger than estimated first quarter earnings with net profit of $15.0 million or 8 cents a share on revenue of $724.85 million.
Affymax, Inc.(NASDAQ:AFFY) is showing volatile moves with the stock trading lower by 6.70% to $12.79, off session low of $10.73 a while ago. The sudden selling came on speculation over the company has centered on whether its anemia drug Peginesatide will land FDA approval.
American Eagle Outfitters(NYSE:AEO) surged over 1% after analyst at Lazard upgraded the stock to "buy" from "neutral" with a price target of $22.
Skechers USA Inc(NYSE:SKX) shares slid over 5% after analyst at Wedbush started a coverage on the stock a dour Underperform rating. The Street isn't overly optimistic about the stock with only 1 rating out of 7 on the books above a Hold.
Rent-A-Center Inc(NASDAQ:RCII) added 4.64% after being upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus to Buy, citing stabilization in its core business and faster roll out of RAC acceptance kiosks.
Amazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN) continued to move higher and was up 2% after surging 4% in the previous trading session as media reports suggest that the company will release 3 new Kindle Fires this year.
Apollo Group Inc(NASDAQ:APOL) shares slumped about 8% despite reporting better than estimated second quarter results late Monday. The company posted a second quarter net income of $63.9 million or $0.51 per share on revenue of $969.55 million. On an adjusted basis, the company would have earned 58 cents a share. Analysts were expecting $0.37 a share on revenue estimate of $932.82 million for the second quarter.