US Stock Market Overview – Stocks Rebound Led by the Nasdaq; Housing Sales Rise

US stocks whipsawed between positive and negative territory for most of the trading session. The Nasdaq rebounded and was the best performer of the major averages on Tuesday. Most sectors in the S&P 500 index were higher, led up by real estate, financials were the worst-performing sector. Existing Home sales moved higher in August, as inventories continued to decline. The VIX volatility index moved lower but remains elevated near 27%. The US coronavirus case numbers exceeded 200K. Senator Romney said that he would want to consider who President Trump put forward as a Supreme Court Justice. Technology shares moved higher on Tuesday, as some of the major tech stocks rebounded from Monday’s tumble.

The Fed’s Powell Says it Does What it Will Take

Federal Chair Jerome Powell pledged continued support for the US economy that he said has shown substantial improvement. Powell said this in testimony to the House Financial Services Committee.  Powell reiterated the Fed’s commitment to helping the economy through the coronavirus pandemic and outlined what’s been done so far. He also said that he would do whatever it takes.

Existing-Home Sales Rise

US existing home sales increased by 2.4% to a rate of 6 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were 10.5% year over year. This is the highest sales pace since December 2006. Sales were weighed on by the lack of inventory.  There were 1.49 million homes for sale at the end of August, down 18.6% year over year. This elevated the median price of an existing home sold in August to a record high of $310,600. That is up 11.4% annually.