Stock market edges up on stronger housing report

NEW YORK (AP) - A surprisingly strong housing report helped push the stock market mostly higher Wednesday, while weak earnings reports from Intel and IBM weighed on the Dow Jones industrial average.

Even though the two tech giants disappointed, overall earnings results have come in much better than some investors had feared, said Dan Veru, chief investment officer at Palisade Capital Management in Fort Lee, N.J.

The Dow edged up 5.22 points to close at 13,557, barely managing its fourth straight day of gains. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 5.99 points to 1,460.91.

Better results from Mattel, Goldman Sachs, and Johnson & Johnson shot the stock market higher Tuesday. For the week, the Dow is up 1.7 percent and the S&P 500 is up 2.3 percent.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that builders broke ground on building new single-family houses and apartments at the fastest pace since July 2008. Housing starts surged to an annual rate of 872,000 in September, far above estimates by economists.