Wall St rises as home building sentiment up – New York Report
US STOCKS rose yesterday after strong economic data boosted the housing sector and as investors bought recently battered shares in biotech and media.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 67.78 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 17,545.18, the S&P 500 gained 10.9 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 2,102.44 and the Nasdaq Composite added 43.46 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 5,091.70.
Housing stocks rose after data showed US homebuilder sentiment rose in August to its highest since a matching reading almost a decade ago.
The data more than offset earlier concern over a surprise fall in manufacturing activity in New York state in August.
Consumer stocks were among the day’s gainers led by media companies including Disney, which announced over the weekend plans for two theme park expansions that will bring the celebrated Star Wars movie franchise to life.
Disney shares gained 1.8 per cent to $109.05
Tesla rose 4.9 per cent to $254.99 after Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the stock to $465 from $280 and said the electric car maker was its top pick among US peers.
Zulily soared 49.1 per cent to $18.74 after Liberty Interactive said it would buy the online retailer for $2.4bn (£1.54bn). Liberty was down 1.5 per cent at $29.80.
Estee Lauder fell 6.8 per cent to $82.80 after the cosmetics maker reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales.