Shares of home builders were broadly higher Tuesday, with a number of them trading in record territory, after data showing a strong and surprising increase in the construction of new homes. The iShares U.S. Home Construction exchange-traded fund ITB climbed 0.8% toward a 17-month high in midday trading, with 36 of 48 equity components gaining ground. That bucked the selloff in the broader stock market, as the S&P 500 SPX shed 0.4%. Among the ETF’s more-active home-builder components, shares of Lennar Corp. LEN climbed 1.2%, of D.R. Horton Inc. DHI hiked up 1.2% and of PulteGroup Inc. PHM powered up 1.4%, with shares of all three on track to close at record highs. Elsewhere, Toll Brothers Inc.’s TOL stock rallied 1.5% to be just shy of the June 13 record close of $75.08, and KB Home shares KBH tacked on 0.6% toward the highest close since February 2007.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.