Afternoon Markets: Dow climbs on strong new home sales

The Dow Jones made marginal gains in early trading on Wednesday after the number of new homes purchased jumped more than forecast in July.

America's blue chip index is up 9.14 points (0.1%) to 9,548.43 as news sales increased by almost 10%, the most since February 2005, according to Commerce Department figures. Home improvements giant Home Depot Inc added 1.68% to $27.78 and AT&T Inc climbed 1.33% to $26.65. However, Caterpillar and General Electric tumbled 1.08% to $47.32 and 0.84% to $14.18 respectively. In the UK, the FTSE has fallen 14.85 points (0.3%) to 4,901.95, led lower by miners and energy companies. Fresnillo fell 4.71% to 607p, while Antofagasta shed 4.62% to 753p after posting a sharp slide in pre-tax ...