US Stocks Rally After Spanish Debt Auction, Improving Housing Data

U.S. stocks rallied Tuesday as domestic home building jumped to the highest level in nearly two years and another successful Spanish debt auction buoyed investor sentiment.


The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 257 points, or 2%, to 12024, in morning trade. The blue-chip Dow dropped 100 points on Monday to close at the lowest level of the month.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index climbed 26 points, or 2.1%, to 1231. All 10 of the S&P 500's sectors rose, led higher by energy, material and industrial stocks. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 57 points, or 2.2%, to 2580.

Trading volume is light ahead of the holidays as many investors are closing their books for the year.
"Sentiment has been awful and volumes are thin," said Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist at Northern Trust. "Any good news can push stocks up pretty quickly in this kind of environment."

Still, the S&P 500 has opened higher in each of the previous six trading sessions. But the early gains have melted each time, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

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source article: wsj.com
source images: dailypolitical.com