June housing construction rose to its highest level in seven months as builders rushed to pour foundations to enable first-time home-buyers to take advantage of tax credits. Additionally, the Commerce Department reported that construction of new homes and apartments jumped 3.6% last month. These numbers are all better than expected and are a sign that the economy may be in recovery mode. The news sent the SPDR S&P Homebuilders (XHB) up about 2% in intraday trading.
Overall, all three major U.S. indexes are down this morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined nearly 0.1%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.4% and the Nasdaq fell 0.4%.
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Kevin Grewal contributed to this article.