While you were sleeping: Stocks hold near highs

While you were sleeping: Stocks hold near highs
By Margreet Dietz July 1 (BusinessDesk) - Wall Street was mixed as a better-than-expected report on US home sales and a weaker-than-anticipated one on manufacturing provided little incentive to push stocks already trading near record highs. The National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index jumped 6.1 percent, the biggest increase since April 2010. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said he expects improving home sales in the second half of the year. “Sales should exceed an annual pace of five million homes in some...