Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. climbed as much as 6.6 percent on speculation it may be bought by Toll Brothers Inc., the largest U.S. luxury homebuilder.

``There was some chatter on a possible bid by Toll Brothers for Hovnanian,'' said Marc Weinberger, head trader at W. Quillen Securities in New York. ``I don't give it too much credence, but it would be opportunistic for Toll as an acquirer and Hovnanian as a troubled company.''

``We don't comment on market speculation,'' said Doug Fenichel, spokesman for Hovnanian. A spokesman for Toll Brothers couldn't immediately be reached to comment.

Hovnanian, based in Red Bank, New-Jersey, gained 57 cents, or 4.7 percent, to $12.63 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading after earlier climbing as high as $12.86. Toll Brothers added 39 cents to $23.12.

Speculation that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. planned to buy a stake spurred the biggest rally in Hovnanian since 2002 on July 13.

To contact the reporters on this story: Eric Martin in New York at emartin21@bloomberg.net; Lynn Thomasson in New York at lthomasson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 10, 2007 17:04 EDT