Indexes rise on retail gains, home sale surge

NEW YORK (AP) — More evidence that the housing market is recovering boosted stocks on Wall Street today. Gains for discount retailers also pushed indexes higher after Dollar Tree posted strong earnings.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 130 points, or 0.9 percent, to 14,031 as of 12:30 p.m. EST. The Standard and Poor's 500 index gained 17 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,514. The Nasdaq composite rose 40 points, or 1.3 percent, to 3,169.

Dollar Tree jumped $5 to $46.09 after the discount retailer reported a 22 percent profit increase as consumers spent more at its stores. Dollar General followed suit, gaining $2.12 to $47.07, and Family Dollar Stores rose $1.55 to $57.83.

The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes rose in January from December to the highest level in almost three years. The National Association of Realtors' index for pending home sales rose 4.5 percent to the highest point since April 2010.

The news sent home builder stocks higher for the second day in a row. PulteGroup rose 48 cents to $19.53, a day after rising 5.7 percent on news that sales of new homes jumped 16 percent last month to the highest level since July 2008.