U.S. stocks fell, limiting the biggest quarterly advance for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since 1998, after consumer confidence unexpectedly slid and delinquencies on the least?risky mortgagesmore than doubled.

Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Janet Yellen said the U.S. economy may be about to “turn the corner” and reiterated her expectation that the recession will end later this year. “Right now, we’re like a patient in intensive care whose condition has stabilized and whose fever is just starting to come down,” Yellen said in the text of a speech today in San Francisco.

Yellen’s comments echo the view taken by other Fed policy makers, who said last week the pace of economic contraction is slowing. The benchmark U.S. interest rate, now between zero and 0.25 percent, will likely stay at “exceptionally low levels” for “an extended period,” they said in a statement after their June 23?24 meeting.

Home prices in 20 major US cities fell in April at a slower pace than forecast, a sign that the plunge in real estate values is abating. The S&P/Case?Shiller home?price index decreased 18.1% from a year earlier following an 18.7% drop in March.

Asian stocks fell on signs the economic recovery is faltering as confidence at Japanese businesses posted a smaller?than?expected rebound and metals prices dropped. Sentiment among Japan’s largest manufacturers rose less than estimated in June, signaling the economy may be slow to recover from its deepest postwar recession.

An index of confidence among large makers of electronics, cars and other products climbed to minus 48 from a record minus 58 in March, the Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey showed today in Tokyo.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News predicted minus 43. The report provides the latest indication that Japan’s likely expansion last quarter was short lived after figures over the past week showed a revival in industrial production may wane, job prospects worsened and deflation returned.

The yen fell toward a two?week low against the euro after a report showed China’s manufacturing expanded for a fourth month, damping demand for the relative safety of Japan’s currency. The yen also weakened against 15 of the 16 most?traded currencies after an Australian report showed retail sales climbed for a third month, giving investors more confidence to purchase higher?yielding assets.