Shares of companies in the home construction sector took a broad beating Wednesday, in the wake of more weak data on pending home sales. The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that pending home sales in October fell 4.6% from September, the fifth-straight monthly decline, with year-over-year pending transactions dropping 37.0%. “October was a difficult month for home buyers as they faced 20-year-high mortgage rates,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. The iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF slid 1.1% in morning trading, with 42 of the 47 equity components trading lower. Among the more active components, shares of Home Depot Inc. lost 0.6%, D.R. Horton Inc. gave up 0.5%, PulteGroup Inc. slumped 1.6% and Lennar Corp. shed 1.3%. Meanwhile, despite the recent weakness in the housing market, the home construction ETF has gained 4.6% in November, after rallying 8.2% in October. In comparison, the S&P 500 has tacked on 1.9% this month after climbing 8.0% last month.
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