U.S. stocks rally on pending housing data, earnings

NEW YORK, Feb. 3 (Chinese media) -- U.S. stocks rallied Tuesday after a surprise rise in pending home sales and a few upbeat earnings reports helped to ease the market sentiment.

The U.S. National Association of Realtors reported on Tuesday that the seasonally adjusted index of pending home sales for December rose 6.3 percent to 87.7 from an upwardly revised November reading of 82.5.

Corporate earnings continued to be market's focus. The drugmaker Merck Co. beat analysts' forecasts by posting a profit in the fourth quarter, but sales of its key products dropped.

UPS Inc., the world's largest shipping carrier, swung to a fourth-quarter profit of 254 million U.S. dollars.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 141.53 points, or 1.78 percent, to 8,078.36. The Standard Poor's 500 Index added 13.07 points, or 1.58 percent, to 838.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 21.87 points, or 1.46 percent, to 1,516.30.