Daily Financial News - Mortgage | Real Estate | Stock Market

Stocks surge to 18-month highs - CNNMoney.com -- Stocks rallied Tuesday, with the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 ending at new 18-month highs following the release of a better-than-expected existing home sales report that suggests a slow economic rebound.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 103 points, or 1%, ending at 10,888.83, the highest close since 11,143.13 on Sept. 26, 2008. The S&P 500 index gained eight points, or 0.7%, and ended at 1,174.17, its highest close since 1,213.09 on Sept. 26, 2008. The Nasdaq composite rose 20 points, or 0.8%, ending at 2,415.24, its highest close since 2,416.98 on Aug. 18, 2008.

Stocks initially struggled out of the gate Tuesday but turned higher following the release of the housing report, which showed existing home sales fell in February from January levels but still topped estimates.

Existing home sales slip in February - CNNMoney.com -- Sales of existing homes fell slightly in February, according to an industry report released Tuesday, a sign that the housing market's recovery remains fragile.

The National Association of Realtors reported that home resales fell 0.6% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.02 million units. That's down from a rate of 5.05 million in January. Still, sales are 7% higher than in February 2009, when homes were going into contract at an annual rate of 4.69 million units. Last month's figures came in slightly above analyst expectations.

Treasurys fell after auction - CNNMoney.com -- Treasurys fell after a government auction of $44 billion in 2-year notes Tuesday, the first of three auctions totaling $118 billion this week.

What prices are doing: After the auction, the 2-year note was flat, but other Treasurys fell. The 2-year closed at 99-26/32 with a yield of 0.99%. The 5-year note fell 2/32 to 99-25/32 and its yield rose to 2.42%. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The benchmark 10-year note fell 8/32 to 99-16/32 and its yield rose yield of 3.69%. The 30-year bond fell 17/32 to 100-10/32 with a yield of 4.60%.