Greater Phoenix Blog

NEW YORK - Home Depot Inc., Alcoa Inc. and DuPont Co. helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average recover almost all of its losses from the Feb. 27 global rout, and led the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its second straight/-gain. Google Inc.’s biggest jump since March 6 gave the Nasdaq Composite Index its fourth/-consecutive advance.

The National Association of Realtors’ index of signed purchase agreements climbed 0.7 percent last month, allaying concern falling real estate prices will curb spending. A separate report showed retail sales last week rose the most in two months, while the biggest drop in oil since March 9 bolstered expectations the economy will grow without fueling inflation.

The Dow industrials added 128, or 1 percent, to 12,510.30. The gauge is now 1 percent shy of recouping all of its decline from the global equity sell-off that began Feb. 27.

The S&P 500 rose 13.22, or 0.9 percent, to 1437.77. The Nasdaq increased 28.07, or 1.2 percent, to 2450.33.

More Americans signed contracts to buy previously owned homes in February, easing concern the housing market will worsen. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected a 0.5 percent drop in signed purchase agreements.

Warmer weather spurred a 4.9 percent increase in U.S. retail sales last week as consumers bought clothing and foods for Easter and Passover, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS AG.

Retailers gained the most among two dozen industries in the S&P 500, climbing 1.5 percent. Household spending accounts for about two-thirds of the U.S. economy. Home Depot, the world’s biggest home-improvement retailer, added 84 cents to $37.63.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 6th, 2007 at 5:36 pm and is filed under Market Watch, Real Estate News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.