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The United States was buoyed overnight by the first rise in construction spend in six months and a steady rise in new home sales.
Construction spending rose 0.3 per cent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $US969.7 billion ($1.3 trillion), the US’ Commerce Department reported.
Meanwhile first home buyers drove a monthly increase of 3.2 per cent in pending new home sales the National Association of Realtors (NAR) revealed – 1.1 per cent up on March last year.
“This increase could be the leading edge of first time buyers responding to very favourable affordability conditions and an US$8,000 tax credit, which increases buying power even more in areas where special programs allow buyers to use it as a down payment,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said.
US stocks surged off the news, according to The Australian; The Dow Jones rose 2.61 per cent to close at its highest level since January 13.
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