NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks rebounded Friday as investors adjusted positions ahead of a long holiday weekend, and drew optimism from the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc.’s deal to acquire Sweden’s OMX AB.

The market showed relatively little reaction the National Association of Realtors’ report that sales of existing homes fell 2.6 percent in April to 5.99 million units, the slowest sales rate in almost four years.

Nasdaq’s $3.67 billion deal gives the stock market entrance to Europe through OMX, which operates exchanges in seven Nordic countries. It will become the world’s second trans-Atlantic exchange after the New York Stock Exchange bought Paris-based Euronext earlier this year.

Wall Street had retreated Thursday followed housing data that showed sales of single-family homes surged in April by the largest amount in 14 years but that prices fell sharply as well. While a resilient housing market would likely be good for the economy, it could also reduce the likelihood the Federal Reserve would reduce interest rates.

“I view the optimism with a little skepticism. It’s just a very, very wacky market,” said Ted Aronson, a partner at Aronson Johnson Ortiz, referring to the overall mood on Wall Street. He contends the implications of still-settling housing market are difficult to quantify and give him pause though he is still mostly bullish.

In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 52.50, or 0.39 percent, to 13,493.63. The Dow has fallen in the last four sessions.

Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index advanced 7.05, or 0.47 percent, to 1,514.56, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 17.90, or 0.71 percent, to 2,555.82.

Bonds fell following the housing data and as stocks regained lost ground Friday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.87 percent from 4.84 percent late Thursday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

Light, sweet crude rose 55 cents to $64.73 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In corporate news, Nasdaq’s stock fell $1.22, or 3.6 percent, to $32.76 after announcing its OMX bid. The combined operations will form the world’s second trans-Atlantic exchange.

Retailer Gap Inc. rose 12 cents to $18.41 after reporting its first-quarter profit fell 26 percent. Results excluding costs for shutting the company’s handful of Forth & Towne stores topped Wall Street’s forecast.

Coca-Cola Co., one of the 30 stocks that makes up the Dow industrials, rose 67 cents to $51.91 after the beverage maker said it would acquire Vitaminwater maker glaceau for $4.1 billion in a bid to expand its non-carbonated beverage line.

SourceForge Inc., formerly VA Software Corp., said its third-quarter profit rose as a result of the sale of its enterprise software business. The stock jumped 51 cents, or 13.7 percent, to $4.24.

Verigy Ltd. jumped $4.01, or 16.3 percent, to $28.64 after the Singapore chip-testing equipment maker forecast stronger-than-expected sales.

RF Micro Devices Inc., which makes radio frequency components used in mobile devices, advanced 36 cents, or 5.8 percent, to $6.52 after an analyst raised his rating on the stock, contending demand for the company’s products will improve in the second half of the year.

Tribune Co. said nearly twice as many shareholders as expected agreed to a payment of $34 per share in the company’s tender offer. The move is the first formal step in the company’s plan to be taken private under a buyout led by billionaire investor Sam Zell. Tribune fell 97 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $32.23 following a Wall Street Journal report that the company agreed to difficult borrowing terms in order to finance the offer.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by more than 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 718.9 million shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 5.19, or 0.63 percent, to 828.99.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 1.22 percent. Sometimes-volatile Chinese stocks set fresh closing records Friday. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7 percent. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 1.6 percent.

Britain’s FTSE 100 finished up 0.08 percent, Germany’s DAX index rose 0.54 percent, and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.15 percent.

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