US stocks rally on housing data

New York, April 27 (IANS) US stocks extended rally Thursday as the housing data came in better than expected, offsetting a weak jobs report and some disappointing earnings.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 113.90 points, or 0.87 percent, to 13,204.62. The Standard & Poor's 500 was up 9.29 points, or 0.67 percent, to 1,399.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 20.98 points, or 0.69 percent, to 3,050.61, Xinhua reported.

Thursday's rally came after the National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index rose 4.1 percent to 101.4, the highest level since April 2010, after a 0.4 percent gain in February that was revised from a previously estimated 0.5 percent drop.

Major indexes were pressured in early session after the Labor Department said the number of people applying for jobless benefits decreased mere 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 388,000 last week, spurring concerns that hiring was slowing down.

Meanwhile, Energy giant Exxon reported its earnings dropped 11 percent from a year ago, as its biggest first-quarter production decline since 2008 wiped out most of the benefit of record oil prices.