Existing home sales climbed 2.2% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.24 million, according to the National Association of Realtors, the strongest pace since February 2024. Economists polled by Bloomberg expected existing home sales to hit a pace of 4.2 million in December.

Wall Street is pointing slightly lower in early trading but is on track to close the week with solid gains on healthy quarterly earnings reports from large U.S. corporations

U.S. stocks are drifting near a record as Wall Street’s recent rally loses some momentum. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% in early trading Thursday, a day after after pulling to the edge of its all-time high set in early December.