Stocks Closed Higher after Strong Housing Data

U.S. stocks closed higher on Tuesday, as upbeat data on U.S. new-home sales supported buying. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 17.88 points, or 0.10%, to 18,547.30. The S&P 500 picked up 4.26 points, or 0.20%, to 2,186.90. The Nasdaq Composite added 15.48 points, or 0.30%, to 5,260.08.

New U.S. single-family home sales unexpectedly surged in July, reaching their highest level in nearly nine years amid robust demand, brightening the housing market outlook and bolstering views that economic growth will pick up in the third quarter.The Commerce Department said new home sales jumped 12.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 654,000 units last month, the highest level since October 2007.

Toll Brothers Inc’s <TOL.N> home orders in the third quarter rose the most in two years, and the company joined other large U.S. homebuilders in posting big jumps in quarterly revenue, underscoring steady growth in the U.S. housing market. Toll reported an 18.2 percent jump in orders – a key metric of future revenue for homebuilders – to 1,748 units for the third quarter, the highest growth in two years. Revenue jumped 23.5 percent to $1.27 billion.

Volkswagen and two of its parts suppliers on Tuesday resolved a contract dispute that had hit output at more than half of the carmaker’s German plants and threatened to undermine its recovery from a diesel emissions scandal.