Stocks Extend Gains On Mixed Economic Data
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Stocks extended their gains Thursday with a moderate advance as investors weighed fresh economic data, including a sharp drop in new home sales, for clues to whether more interest rate cuts are in the offing.
The Commerce Department’s report that sales of new homes plunged 8.3% in August to the lowest level in seven years was the latest round of bad news for the housing sector, but its arrival didn’t spook investors. Instead, stocks built on the sizable gains logged Wednesday.
While concerns that housing market ills could drag the broader economy into a recession have bubbled up in recent months, the Federal Reserve’s larger-than-expected interest rate cut last week appears to have left investors hopeful that cheaper capital would help stave off a broad slowdown. And with the final trading day of the quarter arriving Friday, some investors likely engaged in buying and selling designed to spruce up their portfolios.