Akhir 19, 1432 H/March 24, 2011, SPA -- U.S. stocks finished higher Wednesday, even as investors received a disappointing U.S. housing report showing home sales tumbled to a record low last month. In international news, the Japanese government said the devastating earthquake would cost the nation $300 billion—more than double the cost of the Kobe quake in 1995, according to published reports. In world markets, the Egyptian market plunged, with most traders anticipating the sharp drop. Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei closing 1.7 percent lower, while European stocks ended higher, led by the British FTSE rising 0.6 percent. In U.S. economic news, new-home sales fell 16.9 percent last month to an annual rate of 250,000 homes, the Commerce Department said. The figures were the third straight monthly decline and far below the 700,000-a-year pace that economists view as healthy. --More
