Trader Talk

NAHB Upside Surprise Lifts Market

Stocks move to highs of day; NAHB survey helps.

The NAHB homebuilder sentiment index came in at 19 — 3 points better than consensus and up 4 points from March. This is the highest level since September and helped push stocks to their highs for the day.

One issue: the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit creates some uncertainty about the future; expectations were up only 1 percent.

The PHLX Housing Sector Index (HGX), a basket of mostly homebuilding stocks, is at the highest level since October 2008, up 15 percent year to date, outperforming the S&P 500, up 9 percent.

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