The market was reminded of the economy’s ongoing problems when the Conference Board, a business-backed research group, said its Consumer Confidence Index plunged to 64.5 in March from a revised 76.4 in February. The reading — a five-year low — was far below the 73.0 expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson/IFR.

Investors also weighed a report on the housing sector showed a further pullback in home prices. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index shows U.S. home prices declined 11.4 percent in January from a year earlier.

Tight credit markets, rising prices and declining housing prices have consumers worrying about a recession. And, the stock market is in turn worrying that consumers will cut back their spending and further weaken the economy.

XM slid 11 cents to $13.69; while Sirius fell 4 cents to $3.11.

Yahoo Inc. rose 89 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $28.41 after on speculation Microsoft Inc. will raise its takeover price for the Internet company beyond $31 per share. Microsoft fell 4 cents to $29.14.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 1.87, or 0.27 percent, to 703.15.

Advancing issues barely outnumbered advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 714.3 million shares.

Investors overseas remained upbeat following the U.S. rallies Monday and last week. Japan’s Nikkei stock average finished up 2.12 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.91 percent, Germany’s DAX index rose 3.24 percent, and France’s CAC-40 rose 3.49 percent.

[Original: ap.google.com]