Home Depot leads Dow average higher

NEW YORK (AP) — Strong earnings from Home Depot helped lift the Dow on Wall Street today. A jump in home sales and consumer confidence also brought buyers back to the market after a big sell-off Monday.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 99 points, or 0.7 percent, to 13,883 as of 2:48 p.m. The Dow fell 216 points the day before, its biggest drop in three months, on concern that the European debt crisis may flare up again.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose eight points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,496. The Nasdaq composite was up 12 points, or 0.4 percent, at 3,130.

Home Depot, the biggest home improvement store chain in the country, jumped $3.44, or 5.4 percent, to $67.30 after reporting that its income rose 32 percent in the latest quarter thanks to strong U.S. sales and the cleanup that followed Superstorm Sandy. Macy's results also beat analysts' forecasts, and its stock rose $1.33, or 3.5 percent, to $39.85.

"Companies on the whole, particularly U.S. companies, are doing well," Michael Mussio, a portfolio manager at FBB Capital, said.