Housing Market Continues to Push Stocks Higher

This morning, a report from the Commerce Department indicated that construction spending in May rose 0.5% during the month and hit an annual rate of $874.9 billion, which is the highest level that figure has been in almost four years. A big rise in housing helped push the rate higher in May, which would mean that a lot of new homes were started in the month. This information, as well as a positive manufacturing report, has helped push stocks higher. As of 12:45 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 147 points, or 0.99%, and was once again above the 15,000 mark, sitting at 15,057. The S&P 500 was also higher by 1.17%, while the NASDAQ is the front runner, as it's up 1.29% today.

But, even though the Dow is higher, there are still a few losers that can be found within the index.

After closing last week up just 0.12%, shares of Intel are leading all Dow components lower this afternoon, as the stock has lost 0.74%. The move lower comes despite the company's new CEO announcing on Friday that his goal is for Intel to focus more on the mobile chip market. Over the past few years as tablets and smartphones have stolen market share from PCs, Intel has struggled since it missed the revolution of mobile computing. The company has seen PC demand slow, and until just recently its chips did not convert well with mobile devices. While Intel did sign a deal to provide chips for a Galaxy tablet, the company still has a long way to go until it is a major player in the mobile chip market like it is with PC chips.

Telecom giant AT&T is also lower today, down 0.27%. There is very little negative news pertaining to the company at this time, but some fear that the industry is about to go through a lot of changes, which may hurt old Ma Bell. We have been watching the battle over Sprint play out over the past few weeks. Last week, we saw T-Mobile make a big spectrum purchase so it could increase its 4G network, and my colleagues recently discussed how AT&T and Verizon may soon go on a spending spree. All these changes to the industry will have some sort of impact on AT&T and the others, but at this time investors are guessing it's going to be bad for AT&T.

At this time, the only other Dow component trading lower is Home Depot . Shares are down 0.25% today after the stock rose 4.94% last week. Today's decline may simply be short-sighted traders selling a winner and taking profits off the table. Home Depot is up 24.87% year-to-date making it the seventh best-performing Dow component of 2013. Last week's move higher likely came as a result of lower interest rates during the week, which should help keep the housing market booming. But, if and when rates turn higher, they will likely stay there, and many fear that housing will take a major step back and Home Depot will surly feel some negative effects.

More Foolish insight
The Motley Fool's chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for this year. Find out which stock it is in the special free report: "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013." Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.

The article Housing Market Continues to Push Stocks Higher originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Matt Thalman has no position in any stocks mentioned. Check back Monday through Friday as Matt explains what caused the Dow's winners and losers of the day, and every Saturday for a weekly recap. Follow Matt on Twitter @mthalman5513. The Motley Fool recommends Home Depot and Intel. The Motley Fool owns shares of Intel. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.