AIG Shares Extend Rally as New Home Sales Gain More Than Forecast in U.S.
July 26 (Bloomberg) -- Sales of U.S. new homes rose 24 percent in June, more than forecast, to an annual pace of 330,000 following an unprecedented collapse the prior month, figures from the Commerce Department showed today. Bloomberg's Michael McKee reports. (Source: Bloomberg)
American International Group Inc., the insurer bailed out by the U.S., gained the most in about two weeks after data showed that sales of new homes in the U.S. rose more than forecast last month.
The insurer jumped $1.93, or 5.3 percent, to $38.70 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, after climbing as much as 7.4 percent. The company has advanced 29 percent this year, while the S&P is little changed.
AIG, once the world’s largest insurer, has units that initiate, insure and invest in home loans. Purchases of new homes increased 24 percent from May to an annual pace of 330,000, the Commerce Department in Washington said today.
“The housing market is very important to AIG’s health,” said Bill Bergman, an analyst at Morningstar Inc. in Chicago. “You’ve got to give them credit when it improves.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Hugh Son in New York at hson1@bloomberg.net
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