Stocks Flat Despite Rise in Home Sales

Data showing that existing home sales increased again last month were not enough to lift Wall Street today. After a day of small gains and losses, stocks finished flat this afternoon.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.2 percent, or 16 points, and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was up 0.2 percent, or 2 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was flat, up 1 point.

U.S. stock markets slid yesterday following a glum forecast from the World Bank on the global economy and a drop in oil prices. That weighed on Japan's Nikkei, which closed down 2.8 percent, though other overseas markets managed small gains. Germany's Dax was up 0.3 percent today.

Aerospace giant Boeing's stock was down more than 6 percent today after the company announced it would delay the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing will update its financial guidance to account for the potential financial impact of the delay, according to a company statement. Boeing had the biggest losses on the Dow.

Investors were also disappointed by a smaller-than-expected increase in existing home sales in May. Sales increased 2.4 percent last month, according to the National Association of Realtors. That was a smaller increase than some analysts had expected, though it marked the first back-to-back monthly gain since September. Sales were still down 3.6 percent compared with the same period a year ago.

Lawrence Yun, the group's chief economist, blamed the smaller-than-expected increase on problems with the appraisal process. "Historically low mortgage interest rates clearly drew buyers into the market, and housing remains very affordable even with a recent uptick in rates," he said in a statement. "First-time buyers also are being drawn off the sidelines by the $8,000 tax credit, which is helping to absorb inventory. However, the increase in sales is less than expected because poor appraisals are stalling transactions. Pending home sales indicated much stronger activity, but some contracts are falling through from faulty valuations that keep buyers from getting a loan."

Foreclosures also continued to weigh on the housing market. Median home prices fell to $173,000, down 16.8 percent compared with the same period a year ago.

Crude oil prices rebounded today, rising nearly 2 percent to $69.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That helped buoy energy stocks, including Chevron and ConocoPhillips, which rose 0.3 percent and 2 percent, respectively. Exxon Mobil's stock was up 0.2 percent.