Briefs BEST BUY’S QUARTERLY SALES JUMP

YORK» Best Buy Co. NEW saw the biggest quarterly sales growth at established stores in 15 years, helping push revenue and profit beyond Wall Street expectations.

Same-store sales — a key measure of a retailer’s health — jumped 6 percent as shoppers bought products from home theater components to gaming devices to mobile phones. Consumers also took advantage of expanded services.

Best Buy has shown resilience in the face of increasing online competition, improving its stores to allow shoppers to test new technology, investing in price matching and offering speedier delivery options. And it’s even joined with Amazon to let the company sell voicecontrolled TVs at its stores.

The results extend a string of strong numbers from old-guard retailers such as Walmart, Target and Home Depot, which have been helped by a strong economy and their own efforts to improve the shopping experience.

U.S. home prices jump 6.3 percent from a year ago.

WASHINGTON» U.S. home prices climbed 6.3 percent in June from a year earlier, with affordability becoming a greater obstacle for would-be buyers.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose at a slightly slower pace than the 6.5 percent annual gain in May from a year earlier, according to a report Tuesday. But home values are increasing at more than double the pace of average wage growth, weighing down property sales despite solid demand because of accelerating economic growth and solid hiring.

Mortgage rates also are higher than a year ago, creating another price pressure for would-be buyers. The National Association of Realtors said that sales of existing homes have declined for the past four months. Despite the sales slowdown, inventories remain tight and that has meant that buyers — especially those searching for homes worth less than $250,000 — have scant options.

Home prices in three metro areas have increased by double digits in the past year: Las Vegas (13 percent), Seattle (12.8 percent) and San Francisco (10.7 percent). The smallest annual growth in prices was in Washington, D.C. (2.9 percent), Chicago (3.3 percent) and New York City (3.8 percent).

U.S. consumer confidence rises to 18-year high.

WASHINGTON» Americans’ consumer confidence rose in August to the highest level in nearly 18 years as their assessment of current conditions improved further and their expectations about the future rebounded.

The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 133.4 in August, up from a reading 127.9 in July. It was the highest reading since confidence stood at 135.8 in October 2000.

Consumers’ confidence in their ability to get a job and the overall economy are seen as important indicators of how freely they will spend, especially on big-ticket items such as cars, in coming months. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.

The overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, grew at a 4.1 percent rate in the April-June quarter, the best performance since 2014. That estimate will be revised Wednesday. Many economists believe growth has slowed a bit in the current quarter to around 3 percent but will remain far ahead of the weak 2.2 percent GDP growth rate in the first quarter.

Coca-Cola acquiring Moxie; soda beloved in Maine. PORTLAND,

MAINE» Soft drink giant Coca-Cola announced Tuesday that it is acquiring Moxie, a long-lived and beloved New England soda brand that is the official state beverage of Maine.

Moxie has been around since the 19th century and is famous in New England for its unique flavor, which is the product of a root extract that gives it a distinctive taste that polarizes drinkers.

Coca-Cola said Tuesday that it’s acquiring the brand from Coca-Cola of northern New England, an independent bottling partner of the larger company that’s in Bedford, N.H.