The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up for the year. And it was because of the housing market for a change!The S&P 500 went up 3.4 percent Monday . The Dow Jones industrials shot up more than 200 points and had their first finish above 8,400 since Jan. 13.
Two months ago, an S&P 500 in positive ground would have seemed impossible, with the stock market having fallen to 12-year lows on fears of a worsening recession. Monday’s rally was led by the same financial and housing stocks that were decimated by the credit crisis and the sinking economy, and it added more momentum to a stunning rally that began March 10.
A double dose of good housing news ignited the advance: Pending U.S. home sales rose more than forecast and had their second straight monthly gain, while construction spending rose unexpectedly in March after five straight declines.