Late Rally Snaps Three-Day Drop

N E W  Y O R K, April 25 -- Stocks rose, snapping a three-day losing streak, as the latest batch ofearnings news, including quarterly reports from Walt Disney (Walt Disney is the Parent Company of ABCNEWS.com) and beer giant Anheuser-Busch.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 170.67points, or 1.63 percent, to 10,625.01, according to the latestdata, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 43.01 points,or 2.13 percent, to finish at 2,059.62. The benchmark Standard& Poor's 500 index added 19.22 points, or 1.59 percent,to 1,228.69.

Wall Street also got a boost after the National Associationof Realtors said U.S. March sales of existing homes rose 4.8percent, well above Wall Street's expectations. Shares inhomebuilders strengthened on the news, including ChampionEnterprises Inc.'s 45-cent rise to $7.60 and a $1.37gain in D.R. Horton Inc.'s shares to $23.61.

"There are signs that companies are managing their waythrough a terrible storm and it'll eventually blow over," saidJoseph Besecker, who helps manage $1 billion for Emerald AssetManagement. "We firmly believe that, while there are stillclouds ahead, the worst is over. The market believes it, too."

Disney shares rose $2.23, or 7.8 percent, to $30.81, afterreporting fiscal second-quarter earnings that surpassed WallStreet estimates. Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch added $1.01,or 2.54 percent, to $40.78. The world's largest brewer reporteda 12.6 percent increase in first-quarter profits.

Earlier Action

The market, which had headed higher much of the month, fell in the past three trading sessions as investors have struggled to determine the outlook for the world's most powerful economy, weighing the U.S. Federal Reserve's four interest-rate cuts this year against slipping corporate profit growth.

Wall Street got a boost after The National Association of Realtors said U.S. March sales of existing homes rose 4.8 percent, well above Wall Street's expectations and the second-highest rate on record of sales of existing U.S. homes, helped by lower mortgage rates.