NEW YORK — A pair of encouraging reports about the housing market gave U.S. stocks a little boost Wednesday.
Home sales jumped to the highest level in more than two years in August, the National Association of Realtors said. Sales rose 7.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.82 million, the most since May 2010.
Earlier, the government reported that construction of single-family homes in August also was the fastest in more than two years.
Stocks of homebuilders, already up after the construction report, rose sharply after 10 a.m., when the jump in home sales was reported. Denver-based MDC Holding rose 90 cents, or 2.4 percent, to close at $38.60; D.R. Horton Inc. rose 87 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $22.22; and Beazer Homes rose 22 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $3.75.
The gains for broader stock indexes were muted. At its high for the day, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 62 points.
The housing numbers “are fantastic news,” but traders continue to worry about recent discouraging signals such as downgrades of railroads and a warning from Federal Express that the global economy is slowing, said JJ Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist for TD Ameritrade.
“The market is at a bit of a conundrum,” Kina-han said. “There are just constantly these mixed signals about what’s going on.”
The Dow closed up 13.32 points, or 0.1 percent, at 13,577.96. The Dow is just a 4 percent rally shy of its all-time high of 14,164, reached Oct. 9, 2007.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 1.73 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,461.05. Telecom and consumer discretionary stocks added the most among the industry groups in the S&P.
Energy stocks suffered as the price of oil fell $3.31, to $91.98 per barrel. Traders are questioning whether economic growth is strong enough to justify a recent run-up to $100 per barrel.
The Nasdaq composite rose 4.82 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,182.62.
