U.S. stocks rebound on housing data

U.S. stocks finished broadly higher Wednesday after President Donald Trump indicated that a deal to resolve the longrunning, costly trade dispute with China could happen soon.

Trump’s remarks, in addition to a sharp increase in sales of new U.S. homes, helped reverse an early slide for stocks.

Technology companies led the rally, which snapped a three-day losing streak for the market. Communication services stocks and companies that rely on consumer spending also notched solid gains. Health care stocks were the biggest loser.

The midmorning release of a rough transcript of a July phone call between Trump and Ukraine’s president that is at the center of a congressional impeachment inquiry into Trump didn’t have much of an impact on the market. That suggests traders are largely shrugging off the potential consequences the political drama might have for stocks at least for now.

“If the market really thought it was bad, it would go down and stay down, and it would be the only thing impacting the market,” said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments.

The S&P 500 index rose 18.27 points, or 0.6%, to 2,984.87. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 162.94 points, or 0.6%, to 26,970.71.

The Nasdaq climbed 83.76 points, or 1.1%, to 8,077.38. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies picked up 17.07 points, or 1.1%, to 1,550.65.

The S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq are on track to end the third quarter with modest gains.

Stocks got off to a downbeat start Wednesday as traders continued to weigh the implications of the House Democrats-led impeachment inquiry into Trump.

The S&P 500’s losses began to ease after the Commerce Department said sales of newly built U.S. homes jumped 7.1% last month as lower interest rates helped drive sales. The report sent homebuilder shares broadly higher. KB Home gained 3%.

Stocks continued to recover after the release of the Trump phone call transcript. The market then climbed into positive territory after Trump, speaking to reporters at the United Nations, said China wants “to make a deal very badly,” adding that “it could happen sooner than you think.”

Trump did not elaborate. Talks between top-level officials aimed at resolving the costly trade war are expected to take place next month.