Wall Street rallies on positive economic data

NEW YORK, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street rallied on Monday as reports showed that construction spending and pending home sales rose in March.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported early on Monday that construction spending during March 2009 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 969.7 billion U.S. dollars, 0.3percent above the revised February estimate. It was the best reading since last September. Analysts had expected a 1.5-percent loss.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts, increased 3.2 percent to 84.6 in March, the National Association of Realtors reported.

Major metal producers rose as metal prices were boosted by an encouraging report about manufacturing in China. The Purchasing Managers' Index of China's manufacturing sector rose for a fifth straight month in April to 53.5, up 1.1 points from a month earlier. Investors bet that rising demand from China would help stabilizing metal prices.

Stocks also gain momentum from a better-than-expected quarterly report from communications giant Sprint Nextel. The third largest mobile service provider posted a loss wider than the previous quarter, but its earnings per share excluding one-time items beat Wall Street expectations.

The Dow Jones average rose 214.33, or 2.6 percent, to 8,426.74.The SP 500 index rose 29.72, or 3.4 percent, to 907.24. The SP 500 is now up 0.4 percent for 2009.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 44.36, or 2.6 percent, to 1,753.56.