A strong jump in November housing construction propelled stock prices to sharp gains on Wall Street today and fuelled investors’ hopes that the US economy is improving.

US investors, attracted to Wall Street by cheaper prices, set aside nagging pessimism about the economy and indulged in late-session buying.

US investors, attracted to Wall Street by cheaper prices, today set aside nagging pessimism about the economy and indulged in late-session buying.

Wall Street showed it can tolerate bad earnings news today, rallying sharply despite losses and job cuts at Motorola.

Investors pushed stocks lower today, knocking the Nasdaq composite index to its lowest level since April.