U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as consumer confidence data bolstered views the economy's recovery is on track and results from Travelers Cos and Apple Inc strengthened the fourth-quarter earnings picture.

Shares of Travelers led gains on the Dow after the property-casualty insurer posted a profit that beat Wall Street's estimate. The stock advanced 3.6 percent to $50.66.

Data shortly after the open showed consumer confidence rose for a third straight month in January to its highest level since September 2008, relieving some worries about spending.

The market turned around on a dime on the consumer confidence numbers. People are cheering the recovering economy, said Jim Awad, managing director at Zephyr Management in New York.

Stocks opened lower, partly because of concerns about a Chinese government clampdown on bank lending. Sources said China's central bank told some banks to increase their reserve ratios by 0.5 percentage point, effective Tuesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 58.80 points, or 0.58 percent, at 10,255.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 4.34 points, or 0.40 percent, at 1,101.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 10.03 points, or 0.45 percent, at 2,220.83.

iPhone maker Apple Inc gained 3.5 percent to $210.27, a day after reporting results.

Apple was the top positive on the Nasdaq, followed by Microsoft Corp , which is scheduled to report later this week.

DuPont

, which also reported results, was up 0.2 percent at $32.89, but Johnson & Johnson , which gave a conservative forecast, dipped 0.6 percent to $62.84.

(Editing by Padraic Cassidy)

Apple inc.