🤑 It doesn’t get more affordable. Grab this 60% OFF Black Friday offer before it disappears…CLAIM SALE

U.S. stocks rally on upbeat housing data; Dow Jones up 1.97%

Published 12/20/2011, 10:10 AM
NDX
-
UK100
-
FCHI
-
DJI
-
DE40
-
STOXX50
-
JP225
-
HK50
-
C
-
BAC
-
SOWGn
-
LMT
-
LEN
-
Investing.com - U.S. stocks rallied on Tuesday, as market sentiment found support after better-than-expected U.S. housing data and concerns over the debt crisis in the euro zone eased.

During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.97%, the S&P 500 index jumped 2.11%, while the Nasdaq Composite index climbed 2.10%.

Sentiment was boosted after the U.S. Census Bureau said in a report that building permits rose to the highest level since March 2010 last month, while housing starts climbed to a 19-month high.

Home builder stocks jumped after the upbeat data with shares in Lennar soaring 4.81% and Beazer climbing 5.66%.

The report came after a sharp rise in German business sentiment and as Spain saw borrowing costs fall sharply at an auction of three and six-month government bonds.

U.S. lenders posted sharp gains, tracking their European counterparts higher. Bank of America advanced 2.87%, a day after seeing its share price slip below the critical USD5 level as concerns grew over how the banks could withstand European contagion.

Meanwhile, shares in JPMorgan surged 3.36% and Citigroup jumped 2.90%, while Goldman Sachs posted a 0.63% gain. Investment bank Jefferies was also higher with shares soaring 5% after reporting higher-than-expected earnings.

Elsewhere, Lockheed Martin jumped 2.06% as the group’s F-35 jet was chosen by Japan as its next mainstay fighter, deciding to buy 42 of the planes.

AT&T added 0.57% after the telecommunications giant announced late on Monday it was ending its deal to buy Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile U.S. after opposition from the U.S. government.

The news sent competitors SprintNextel and Clearwire sharply higher with shares soaring 2.31% and 2.46% respectively.

On the downside, software company Red Hat plummeted 7.38% following a disappointing earnings report.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply higher. The EURO STOXX 50 soared 2.07%, France’s CAC 40 jumped 2.20%, Germany's DAX climbed 2.77%, while Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.62%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped 0.35%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index gained 0.5%.


Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.