Home building companies including Toll Brothers, D.R. Horton and PulteGroup led U.S. stocks modestly higher Wednesday as the market looked past disappointing economic data in the hopes that the housing market has finally bottomed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 19.61 points, or 0.20%, to 10060.06, snapping a four session losing streak. The measure was led by home improvement retailer Home Depot, which gained 55 cents, or 2%, to 28.33.

Home building companies also led the gains in the Standard & Poor's 500 share index, which rose 3.46, or 0.33%, to 1055.33.

Toll Brothers added 94 cents, or 5.8%, to 17.13 and PulteGroup rose 24 cents, or 3.1%, to 8.08. D.R. Horton gained 46 cents, or 4.6%, to 10.43, climbing after Ticonderoga Securities lifted its stock investment rating on the company to buy from hold, citing improvement in operating metrics that, generally speaking, far surpass competitors.

The market had initially slid Wednesday after the Commerce Department said new home buying dropped in July to the lowest level on record going back to 1963.

Upsetting forecasts for a slight gain, sales decreased 12.4% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 276,000.

But speculation that the housing market may, at last, have hit bottom helped to boost home builders, which led the broad market's modest rally.

Investors also said the recent flight to bonds has helped stock valuations. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite posted a much larger gain on Wednesday, rising 17.78, or 0.84%, to 2141.54, its first gain in three sessions.

The technology heavy index benefited from gains for Apple, which raised speculation it will update its line of iPods or other technology by sending out invitations to a company event on Sept. 1. Apple, which has historically held a media event in September to unveil new digital music and media products, rose 2.96, or 1.2%, to 242.89. The Nasdaq also got a boost from Costco, the wholesale style retailer, which gained 1.47, or 2.6%, to 57.07.

Trading volume was light on Wednesday, continuing the month's trend. At just under four billion shares per day, average NYSE composite daily volume this August is on track to be the lowest for a month since May of 2008 and the lowest August since August 2006.

European market

Europe's main stock markets ended lower Wednesday after another round of weak economic data from the U.S., with energy group Tullow Oil falling sharply after it warned of delays over its Uganda projects. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.8% to end at 247.54 points, paring some of its intraday losses.

The U.S. Commerce Department said durable goods orders rose an anemic 0.3% in July well below the 2.7% increase expected by economists.

Also, a report showed that sales of new homes in the U.S. unexpectedly declined in July. Data in Europe were more positive Wednesday, with Germany's Ifo business sentiment index continuing to climb and hitting its highest level since mid 2007. However, the Ifo figures weren't enough to provide a boost for Germany's DAX 30 index, which fell 0.6% to end at 5,899.50.

Among the other major indexes, the U.K. FTSE 100 index dropped 0.9% to 5,109.40 and the French CAC 40 index fell 1.2% to 3,450.19.

Shares in the banking sector were broadly lower Wednesday, with UBS ending down 1.5% and Barclays losing 3.6%. Shares of Tullow Oil dropped 4.6% in London. The firm reported that its first half profit more than doubled, but it also warned that projects in Uganda are likely to be delayed.

Asian market

Most Asian stock markets declined Wednesday as sluggish U.S. housing data renewed concerns over the pace of global economic recovery, while real estate shares in China fell after the government said it was considering a property tax. U.S. existing home sales in July tumbled a record 27.2% twice as much as analysts had expected strengthening arguments that the U.S. economic recovery has stalled.

China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 2.0%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.1%, Taiwan's Taiex was 2.6% lower, and South Korea's Kospi shed 1.5%.

Mainland property developers and banks dropped as investors remained cautious amid Beijing's push to rein in local government borrowing and on concerns over policy tightening targeted at the property sector.

Among banks, Agricultural Bank of China ended down 0.4%, China Construction Bank fell 2.1% and Bank of China dropped 1.5%. As for property developers, China Vanke was down 4.0% and Poly Real Estate Group ended 3.6% lower.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average, which dropped below the psychologically important 9,000 point level and also entered bearish market territory Tuesday, slid a further 1.7% to finish at 8,845.39 a closing level it hasn't seen since April 2009. Stocks dropped across sectors, led by exporters. Nikon fell 2.6%, Canon lost 2.7% and Honda Motor dropped 3.1%.

Commodities and metals

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange pared losses going into the close but still ended lower Wednesday on disappointing U.S. economic data.

A record low in U.S. monthly new home sales and a smaller than expected rise in U.S. durable goods orders hammered U.S. equities and metal prices upon their releases. U.S. equities later pulled even on the day, with the metals following in their wake.

Copper fell to its lowest since July 27 and below both its 100 day and 200 day moving averages. It recovered to end 0.5% higher at $7,100 a metric ton, above both moving averages.

The selloff across the metals also sent lead and aluminum below key psychological supports. Aluminum recouped enough losses to end above support at $2,000/ton.

Crude futures settled higher Wednesday, snapping a five day losing streak despite a report from the Department of Energy showing U.S. inventories of oil and oil products remain at record highs.

The move higher followed an intraday fall below $71 a barrel to the lowest level in more than two months on data from the department's Energy Information Administration that showed a surprise increase in crude stockpiles.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery settled 89 cents, or 1.2%, higher at $72.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled $1.10 higher at $73.48 a barrel.

Gold futures printed their highest settlement in nearly two months as investors wanted the perceived safety of the metal following weaker than expected U.S. new home sales and disappointing durable goods reports.

Futures for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, rose $7.90, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,241.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the contract's strongest finish since June 30.