U.S. equity markets were rising on Wednesday after surprising gains in durable goods orders and new home sales fueled speculation the economy could be reaching a bottom.
Sales for items meant to last three years or more rose by 3.4% in February while sales of new single-family homes grew 4.7% to 337,000 at a seasonally adjusted annual pace.
The S&P home builders index was adding to it 20% gain for the week; a report on existing single home sales last Monday, a much broader measure of the housing market, showed sales increased 5.1% last month.
In recent trade, the DOW was moving higher by 1.35%. The broader S&P 500 was up 1.05% and the NASDAQ by 0.94%.
The dollar was mixed, with declines of 0.87% against the euro, 0.20% to the yen and 0.91% to Australia's currency as it gained 0.91% on the pound.
Crude for April delivery was recently trading lower by $1.12 while April gold gained $10.30 on the day.