The annual rate of 591,000 housing starts beat expectations slightly, while building permits, predicting construction activity a month or two down the road, dropped 4.9 percent compared with the previous month.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed higher for the second consecutive day, adding 40.43 points, 0.39 percent, to 10,309.24. Dow component Home Depot Inc. was up 1.97 percent, while Bank of America shares rose 3.3 percent, while United Technologies Corp. shares rose 2.18 percent.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.42 percent, 4.64 points, to 1,099.51. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.55 percent, 12.10 points, to 2,226.29.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,049 stocks advanced and 978 declined on a volume of 4.2 billion shares traded.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. treasury bill fell 21/32 to yield 3.74 percent.
The euro fell to $1.3602 from Tuesday's $1.3769. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 91.32 yen from Tuesday's 90.16 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index rose 2.72 percent, 272.58 points, to 10,306.83.
In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.62 percent, 32.58, to 5,276.64.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI).
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