Wall Street was headed for a modestly higher open Friday as investors awaited data on new home construction last month.The Commerce Department is expected to report that construction of new single-family homes and apartments declined in April by about 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 940,000 units, according to the median estimate of economists polled by Thomson/IFR. Building permits, a harbinger of future activity, are anticipated to fall as well.
The stock market has been slammed with poor readings on the housing market for several months now, so weak results do not come as a surprise. However, with Wall Street hoping for an economic rebound in the second half of 2008, many investors are searching for signs that the housing market, while weak, is perhaps bottoming out.
Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 17, or 0.13 percent, to 13,013.
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