Traducciones

U.S. stocks rallied for a fourth day, erasing losses for the year in the
Standard & Poors 500 Index, as the European Central Bank unveiled an
expanded stimulus plan and banks and transportation companies surged
amid better-than-forecast earnings.
KeyCorp led gains among banks after fourth-quarter results topped analyst
estimates. Southwest Airlines Co. jumped 8.4 percent as profit rose 71
percent on lower jet fuel prices. Union Pacific Corp. added 4.8 percent as a
strengthening U.S. economy and growing construction market boosted traffic
on the rails in the fourth quarter. EBay Inc. increased 7.1 percent after
entering a standstill agreement with activist investor Carl Icahn.
Its that halo effect of the follow-through on ECB finally coming to the table
and embracing a pretty material stimulus program, Todd Lowenstein, who
helps manage $16 billion at Highmark Capital Management in Los Angeles,
said by phone. It brings some hope that Europe will get pointed in the right
direction.
Traduccin
Las acciones estadounidenses subieron por cuarto da , borrando las prdidas
para el ao en el ndice Standard & Poors 500, como el Banco Central Europeo
dio a conocer un plan de estmulo ampliado y los bancos y las empresas de
transporte aument en medio de las ganancias mejores de lo previsto.
KeyCorp lidero la ganancia de los bancos despus de resultados del cuarto
trimestre superaron las estimaciones de analistas, Southwest Airlines Co. subi
un 8,4 por ciento como ganancias aumentaron 71 por ciento en los precios ms
bajos del combustible para aviones. Union Pacific Corp. aadi un 4,8 por
ciento como un fortalecimiento de la economa de Estados Unidos y el
creciente mercado de la construccin aument el trfico en los carriles en el
cuarto trimestre. EBay Inc. aument un 7,1 por ciento despus de entrar en un
acuerdo de suspensin con el activista e inversionista Carl Icahn.
Es ese efecto de halo del seguimiento a travs de BCE finalmente llegando a la
mesa y que abarca un programa de estmulo bastante material ", Todd
Lowenstein, que ayuda a administrar $ 16 mil millones en Highmark Capital
Management en Los Angeles, dijo por telfono. "Trae alguna esperanza de que
Europa conseguir apuntar en la direccin correcta."

Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Increased 4.3% in November

Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose at a slower pace in the year ended in
November, a sign the industry struggled to find momentum even amid
low mortgage rates.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values increased 4.3 percent from
November 2013 after rising 4.5 percent in the year ended in October, the
group said Tuesday inNew York. The median projection of 28 economists
surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 4.3 percent year-over-year advance.
Nationally, prices rose 4.7 percent after a 4.6 percent gain in the year ended
in October.
Property prices slowed over the last year as home sales cooled, with
demand stymied by sluggish wage growth and less household formation.
More moderate price gains, combined with improvement in the labor market
and low borrowing costs, may enable a wider swath of Americans to become
buyers, providing a needed jolt to the industry.
Home-price appreciation continued last year, but at a slower pace
compared with 2013, said Ryan Wang, an economist at HSBC Securities
USA Inc. in New York and the second-best forecaster of the Case-Shiller
index over the last two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Going into this year, well see a moderate increase in home prices.
Mortgage rates have fallen, and that may help sales pick up a bit.
All 20 cities in the index showed a year-over-year increase, led by gains of
8.9 percent in San Francisco and 8.6 percent in Miami. Among cities whose
annual growth rates climbed the most in November were Tampa, Florida;
Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina;
and Portland, Oregon.Cleveland showed the smallest increase, at 0.6
percent.
Strong price gains are limited to California, Florida, the Pacific Northwest,
Denver, and Dallas, David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee,
said in a statement. Most of the rest of the country is lagging the national
index gains.
Economists estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from gains of 3.9
percent to 4.8 percent. The S&P/Case-Shiller index is based on a three-

month average, which means the November figure was also influenced by
transactions in October and September.

Durable Goods
Another Tuesday report showed orders for U.S. durable goods unexpectedly
decreased in December. Bookings for goods meant to last at least three
years fell 3.4 percent after a 2.1 percent decline the prior month, a
Commerce Department report showed in Washington.
Home prices in the 20-city index adjusted for seasonal variations increased
0.7 percent in November from the prior month, little changed from the
previous months increase. The Bloomberg survey median called for a 0.6
percent gain.
The year-over-year gauge, which uses records dating back to 2001,
provides better indications of trends in prices, according to the S&P/CaseShiller group. The panel includes Karl Case andRobert Shiller, the
economists who created the index.

Recoverys Hurdles
Difficulties facing the housing recovery include continued low inventory
levels and stiff mortgage qualification standards, Blitzer said.
Property prices before seasonal adjustment rose in 11 of 20 U.S. areas in
November from a month earlier, led by a 0.8 percent jump in Tampa.
Adjusted prices rose in all 20 cities.
Borrowing costs that have plunged this year amid a drop in longterm interest rates may help make homeownership a more affordable
option for some Americans. The average rate on a 30-year
fixedmortgage was 3.63 percent in the weekend ended Jan. 22, the lowest
since May 2013, according to Freddie Mac data. The rate has dropped by
0.24 percentage point in just the first three weeks of 2015, compared with a
0.7 point decline in all of last year.
When combined with gains in employment and consumer confidence,
lower borrowing costs will help put the housing market on better footing in
the months to come.

Home Sales
Existing home sales totaled 4.93 million in 2014, down 3.1 percent from the
5.09 million houses sold the year before, figures from the National
Association of Realtors showed last week. Meanwhile, builders broke ground
in December on the most single-family homes in almost seven years,
signaling construction will contribute more to economic growth this year.
That bolsters the outlook of more than just homebuilders, who
are optimistic pent-up demand for homes will help the industry this year.
Companies such as Toyota Motor Corp. may also benefit.
A rise in housing starts bodes well for the light truck and pickup truck
market sales, Bob Carter, senior vice president of Toyotas U.S. operations,
said at a Jan. 14 industry conference. When homebuilding picks up,
construction companies hire more people and those people go out and buy
trucks to get the job done.
To contact the reporter on this story: Victoria Stilwell in Washington
at vstilwell1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Carlos
Torres at ctorres2@bloomberg.net Mark Rohner, Chris Wellisz