Investors celebrated news of another jump in home sales by propelling the Dow Jones industrials to their first close above 9,000 since January.

The stock market's best-known indicator shot up almost 190 points Thursday to 9,069.29, its highest level since November, and all the big indexes gained more than 2 percent.
News that existing home sales rose in June for the third straight month and by a higher-than-expected amount led investors to extend a buying spree that has now lifted the Dow 923 points, or 11 percent, in just nine days. On paper, U.S. stocks have gained $1.2 trillion in value.

And upbeat earnings reports and forecasts from companies including chip maker Intel Corp. and heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. convinced investors that the bets they've placed since March on a recovering economy were well-founded.

source:NDTVPROFIT