NEW YORK (AP) — Better news on home sales and improved prospects for job growth sent stocks higher on Wall Street Thursday.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 135 points, nearly making up its 140-point loss from the day before. The SP 500 edged back into the black for 2011, with just one more day of trading left in the year.
The four-week average of unemployment claims fell to a three-and-a-half-year low, an indication that hiring could pick up. Also, the number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes in November rose more than 7 percent to the highest level in a year and a half, according to the National Association of Realtors.
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