Exchange-traded funds that track the home-building sector fell on Wednesday, after the latest read on home sales came in sharply below analyst forecasts. Pending-home sales fell 4.7% to 104.6 in January, the National Association of Realtors said, the lowest reading since October 2014, and the biggest monthly decline since 2010. The reading comes two days after data on new-home sales also came in below forecasts. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF fell 1.2% while the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF lost 1.3%. The PowerShares Dynamic Building & Construction Portfolio was down 0.5%. Among specific stocks, D.R. Horton Inc. fell 1.4%, as did Beazer Homes USA Inc. PulteGroup Inc. was down 1.2% while Toll Brothers Inc. lost 1.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% on Wednesday while the S&P 500 added 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.6%.
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