LONDON (ShareCast) - After a hesitant opening, US indices closed ahead, though off their best for the day.

Financial stocks climbed after the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said that newly originated loans to borrowers in high cost areas will qualify for incorporation into To-Be-Announced (TBA) eligible mortgage-backed securities.The announcement gave a lift to the two government sponsored mortgage companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

The news outweighed consumer inflation data that showed prices rose twice as fast as anticipated in July. The Labor Department said the consumer price index climbed 0.8% in July from June and 5.6% compared to last year.

Lower oil prices also encouraged buyers with the price of crude down by nearly $1 to $115.

Dow Jones ended the day 82 points higher at 11,615 while the broader based S&P 500 rose 7 points to 1,292. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite index was 25 points better at 2,453.

Mortgage insurer PMI Group was also wanted after it agreed to sell its Australian and Asian businesses to QBE Insurance for about $896m. Sector peer MGIC rose in sympathy.

Wal-Mart found the market hard to please after delivering better than expected figures. Net sales in the quarter to 31 July totalled $101.6bn compared with $92bn over the same period a year ago, lifting net income to $3.4bn from $3bn. On a like-for-like basis sales excluding petrol rose by 4.5%.

Shareholders in cosmetics firm Estee Lauder were made-up after the company reported a 36% increase in fourth quarter net income, ahead of expectations.

Car-maker General Motors was wanted after it said a larger proportion of its anticipated $10bn in cost savings may come through this year rather than next.

On the downside, storage computer specialists NetApp slipped back after downgrading its second quarter earnings guidance.

S&P 500 - Risers
M B I A Inc (MBI) $10.32 +17.94%
Estee Lauder Cos Inc (EL) $51.25 +13.99%
GANNETT CO INC (GCI) $21.31 +10.64%
General Motors (GM) $11.35 +10.62%
Sandisk Corporation (SNDK) $17.85 +9.71%
M G I C Invest Cp (MTG) $7.80 +9.70%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Sunoco Inc (SUN) $43.36 -4.24%
Network Appliance, Inc. (NTAP) $24.70 -3.86%
Tesoro Corp (TSO) $17.75 -3.69%
ConocoPhillips (COP) $79.37 -3.64%
Nucor Cp (NUE) $50.86 -3.56%
Aes Cp Inc (AES) $15.15 -3.13%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
General Motors (GM) $11.35 +10.62%
Bk Of America Cp (BAC) $30.20 +4.31%
American Express Inc (AXP) $38.20 +3.55%
Amer Intl Group Inc (AIG) $22.83 +3.54%
Home Depot Inc (HD) $27.22 +2.64%
Jp Morgan Chase Co (JPM) $37.79 +2.38%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Alcoa Inc (AA) $31.86 -1.21%
Exxon Mobil Cp (XOM) $77.60 -0.73%
AT&T Inc. (T) $31.10 -0.64%
Coca Cola Co The (KO) $55.02 -0.34%
Hewlett Packard Co (HPQ) $45.48 -0.29%

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