9:30AM New York - The unexpected rise in April new home sales, overshadowed data that showed consumer confidence dropped to a 16-year low in May.

According to the S&P''s/Case Shiller index Prices of US single-family homes plunged 14.1% in the first quarter, accelerating five times from the last housing recession.

Bank of America sees a second-quarter loss for Lehman Brothers and slashed its earnings forecast for Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

Vodafone posted a profit of 6.76 billion pounds as revenue jumped 14% to 35.48 billion pounds. Vodafone’s CEO Arun Sarin will step down in July.

European Markets

European stocks declined by midday on Tuesday as investors were discouraged by the financial concerns with the credit market crisis. Brewer SABMiller climbed after acquisition talks. Britain''s FTSE declined 0.5%, France''s CAC fell 0.8% and Germany''s DAX slipped 0.5%.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index declined 0.62% to 1,311.39, while the pan-European stock index lost 1.6% this month vs. an increase of 6% in April, hit by worries over banks. Societe Generale lost 0.7%, Deutsche Postbank fell 1.6% and Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 1.9%.

Commodity stocks lost ground hit by profit-taking. Rio Tinto and BP lost 1% each and Total lost 0.3%.

Vodafone announced it has met full-year forecasts but declined 1.5% after the news that CEO Arun Sarin was leaving.

Asian Markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed 203.12 higher or 1.48% to 13,893.31; in Hong Kong, Hang Seng index increased 154.73 or 0.64% to close at 24,282.04.

In Australia ASX 200 index rose 7.40 or 0.13% to close at 5,714.40. In Malaysia the KL Composite index increased 0.87 or 0.07% to close at 1,274.24.

In South Korea Kospi Index increased 24.65 or 1.37% to close at 1,825.23; in Thailand the SET index closed 1.20 or 0.14% lower at 855.60. Indonesia JSE Index decreased 22.73 or 0.94% to 2,397.00.

Sensex index in India decreased 72.91 or 0.45% to 16,275.59.