By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 snapping a three-day decline, as investors sought stocks offering value following a strong report on the housing market.
The S&P had fallen about 2 percent from a record intraday high hit on Sept. 19, finding support near its 50-day moving average on Wednesday and rebounding off that level. While the benchmark is still under its 14-day average, a sign that near-term momentum remains weak, the 50-day level could serve as support and prevent more expansive losses.
Equities were boosted by data that showed new home sales jumped sharply in August, easing concerns over the sector that had arisen with Monday's weak report on existing home sales.
"We're having a nice bounce on the housing data, which hasn't been very good in a while, and people are buying the recent dip," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York. "This is a market that continues to attract capital from other asset classes, because where else can investors go for yield?"
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was rising 85.4 points, or 0.5 percent, to 17,141.27, the S&P 500 <.SPX> was gaining 7.6 points, or 0.38 percent, to 1,990.37 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> was adding 26.63 points, or 0.59 percent, to 4,535.32.
Among the most active stocks on the NYSE were Citizens Financial
Advancing issues were outnumbering declining ones on the NYSE by 1,501 to 1,434, for a 1.05-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,590 issues were rising and 1,014 falling for a 1.57-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.
The benchmark S&P 500 index was posting 8 new 52-week highs and 11 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 16 new highs and 93 new lows.
(Editing by Bernadette Baum)
