Stocks Get Lift as Dollar Sags, Home Sales Surge

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stocks closed higher Monday, dashing a three-day losing streak, propelled by better-than-expected home-sales data and expectations that interest rates will remain low in the near term.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closing up by 132.79 points, or 1.3%, to 10,450. The S&P 500 rose 14.86 points, or 1.4%, to 1106, and the Nasdaq advanced 29.97 points, or 1.4%, to finish at 2176.

The softer dollar supported stronger commodity prices throughout most of Monday's session and after a brief dip into negative territory late in the session, crude oil for January delivery settled 9 cents higher, or 0.1%, at $77.56 a barrel.

The dollar, which fell 0.7% against a basket of currencies, was likely responsible for gold's continued trajectory with prices on the December gold contract, gaining $17.90, or 1.6%, to settle at $1,164.70 an ounce.

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Stocks got a jump-start early in the day's session after the National Association of Realtors said existing-home sales shot up 10.1% in October. Sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.1 million units from a downwardly revised 5.54 million pace in September. That's the highest rate since February 2007. Analysts expected sales to rise to 5.7 million.

The surge was attributed to buyers wanting to take advantage of a tax credit for first-time buyers that was set to end this month. Distressed sales comprised 30% of last month's sales, with first-time buyers accounting for a third of sales. The national median home price fell 7.1% year over year but was the lowest drop in more than a year.