US stocks rose on Tuesday, pushing the benchmark S&P 500 up briefly to a 14-month high, as data on existing home sales pointed to more stabilisation in housing, bolstering optimism about the economic recovery and prospects for profits.
Stocks supporting the market's advance included big manufacturers like Boeing Co, up 1.5 percent at $55.09, and technology bellwethers, with International Business Machines Corp up 0.8 percent at $129.67 after the blue chip company scored a 10-year outsourcing deal valued at $83 million.
The Dow Jones US home construction index jumped nearly 3 percent following a report that showed sales of previously owned homes rose 7.4 percent in November, which was much stronger than expected. "That's a good number. We needed that," said Marc Pado, US market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co, in San Francisco.
"It's a number showing that (buyers) are absorbing a lot of the supply, which is the whole point here and that reduces the inventory that's out there." The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 46.48 points, or 0.45 percent, to 10,460.62. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 2.86 points, or 0.26 percent, to 1,116.91. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 9.41 points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,247.07.
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