The S&P 500 was up 0.3% in midday trading to 2,188.26.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1% to 18,555.14.
The NASDAQ was up 0.3% to 5,262.34.
The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond was up 0.8% to 1.55%.
The price of gold was up 0.1% to $1,345.
REAL ESTATE
Orange County homebuilders were up on a Commerce Department report that showed sales of new single-family homes rose 12.4% year-to-date compared with the same period last year. The total equates to an adjusted annual rate of 654,000 sales, a nine-year high. The average rate of a 30-year fixed rate mortgages was 3.48%–down a half-percentage point from a year ago.
Irvine-based CalAtlantic Group Inc. was up 3.3% to $37.17 and a $4.4 billion market cap. Irvine-based Tri Pointe Group was up 3.5% to $14.17 and a $2.3 billion market cap. Newport Beach-based William Lyon Homes was up 3.9% to $17.21 and a $553 million market cap. Aliso Viejo-based New Home Co. Inc. was up 4.5% to $10.33 and a $217 million market cap.
