By Anora Mahmudova and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

Consumer spending leaps in April; house prices jump in March

U.S. stocks struggled to hold opening gains on Tuesday, turning lower as investors assessed the implications of stronger-than-expected economic reports.

Consumer spending (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumers-boost-spending-in-april-by-most-in-nearly-seven-years-2016-05-31)in April increased by the biggest amount in nearly seven years while home prices (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/city-by-city-home-prices-keep-rising-faster-than-expected-2016-05-31)in March jumped.

The upbeat data came after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen (http://blogs.marketwatch.com/capitolreport/2016/05/27/live-blog-and-video-of-janet-yellen-interview/) said Friday that an interest-rate rise in the coming months is probably appropriate.

The main U.S. stock indexes are on track to end the month modestly higher, posting gains for the third consecutive month.

The S&P 500 was down 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,097, with seven of the 10 main sectors trading lower. Consumer staples and materials stocks were leading the losses, while utilities and telecoms were higher.

"Markets are struggling to find a catalyst to move them definitively either higher or lower. Easy profits of 2012-2014 have already been earned and we reached limits of how much monetary policy can reflate prices," said Jeff Greenberg, macro strategist at UBS Securities LLC.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 63 points, or 0.3%, to 17,809. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite was the only index in positive territory, up 11 points, or 0.2%, to 4,944.

"Markets adjusted well to Janet Yellen's comments and expect a rate increase maybe in July, after the U.K votes whether to remain in the European Union or not," said Diane Jaffee, senior portfolio manager at TCW.

"The labor market remains robust and preliminary numbers from other labor reports such as JOLTS or weekly jobless claims point to increasing confidence among workers," Jaffee said, adding that the ability of the labor data to shrug off the Verizon strike was telling. Verizon workers are set to return to work Wednesday after reaching a tentative deal that ends a strike that began in April.

However, investors are avoiding big bets ahead of key economic releases later this week. The European Central Bank is expected to leave policy unchanged on Thursday. On the same day, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is meeting and the monthly U.S. jobs report is due on Friday.

See:Why the May jobs report won't reflect a speedier economy (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-may-jobs-report-wont-reflect-speedier-economy-2016-05-29)

Read:The window for stock-market bears is closing rather quickly (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-the-window-for-stock-market-bears-is-closing-rather-quickly-in-one-chart-2016-05-31)

Other markets:Oil futures (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-hold-tight-as-investors-look-ahead-to-opec-meeting-2016-05-31) traded higher, but European stocks were slightly lower. Asian markets closed mostly up, with Chinese stocks boosted by optimism that index provider MSCI soon could include them (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-stocks-see-biggest-one-day-gain-on-msci-speculation-2016-05-31) in an influential global benchmark.

Gold futures lost ground, as a key dollar index (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-marooned-vs-yen-as-investors-wait-for-us-data-2016-05-31) inched higher, helped by Yellen's comments on Friday.

Economic news:Consumer spending rose (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumers-boost-spending-in-april-by-most-in-nearly-seven-years-2016-05-31) 1% in April to mark the biggest gain in almost seven years, as Americans splurged on new cars and trucks. Higher gas prices also contributed.

Incomes rose by 0.4% for the third time in the first four months of 2016. The savings rate in April fell to 5.4% last month after hitting a four-year high in March. The PCE index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation barometer, rose 1.1% in the 12 months ended in April. That's up from 0.8% in the prior month.

U.S. house prices jumped 0.9% in March, according to a price gauge released Tuesday.

Check out:

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Monday he's reserving judgment on rate increases (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-bullard-monetary-policy-has-little-effect-on-employment-2016-05-29) and will digest more data before making a decision next month.

Individual movers: Shares in Medtronic PLC(MDT) rose after the maker of medical devices posted better-than-expected earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/medtronic-beats-profit-and-sales-expectations-2016-05-31) before the open.

Great Plains Energy Inc.(GXP) on Tuesday said it agreed to buy (http://www.wsj.com/articles/great-plains-energy-to-buy-westar-energy-for-8-6-billion-1464691927)Westar Energy Inc.(WR) for $8.6 billion, marking a big consolidation in the utilities sector (XLU).

In merger news in the drug industry, Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC(JAZZ) agreed to buy Celator Pharmaceuticals Inc.(CPXX) in a $1.5 billion deal (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jazz-pharmaceuticals-to-buy-celator-for-about-15-bln-2016-05-31).

StemCells Inc.(STEM) shares plunged 75% announcing plans to wind down operations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stemcells-plans-to-wind-down-company-after-it-runs-out-of-money-2016-05-31).(STEM)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 31, 2016 12:00 ET (16:00 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.