Positive data spurs stocks up

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are extending their gains on news that construction spending and manufacturing activity are improving.

The major indexes are up more than 2 percent after the Commerce Department said construction spending jumped 0.8 percent in April. Analysts had expected a decline.

Investors were also pleased the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. manufacturing activity contracted in April by less than it did in March.

In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 182.80, or 2.2 percent, to 8,683.13. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 21.40, or 2.3 percent, to 940.54. The Nasdaq composite index is up 42.92, or 2.4 percent, to 1,817.25.