By Anora Mahmudova and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

New home sales surge in April; Homebuilder stocks rally

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged Tuesday as a rally in financial and technology shares underpinned a sharp, broad-based stock-market advance.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 206 points, or 1.2%, to 17,698. All 30 of the blue-chip's components traded higher, led by financial firms American Express Co. (AXP), Visa Inc. (V), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.(JPM) and Goldman Sachs Group (GS).

The S&P 500 index climbed 25 points, or 1.2%, to 2,073 as all 10 main sectors traded in positive territory. Among the S&P 500 shares, nearly a fifth were up more than 2%, another 40% were up more than 1%, while less than 1% were in negative territory.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 77 points, or 1.6%, to 4,843.

Tuesday's rally comes on the heels of hawkish minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting and comments from several officials that rate increases may come as soon as next month.

The market sees a 30% chance of a June hike and a 46% chance of a July move, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool (http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/interest-rates/countdown-to-fomc.html).

"Today's big jump is purely a technical bounce and if we hold above the 50-day moving average, which we just crossed over, we might see some more upside in the market," said Lance Roberts, chief investment strategist at Clarity Financial, LLC.

Roberts noted that the big positive moves over the past few months tended to be erased by equally big negative moves, while the market is trapped in a range.

"The 2,040 seems to be a resistance level and breaking below that would mean further weakness in the market. The path of least resistance right now is a trend lower," Roberts said.

Other markets:Oil futures (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-stay-in-the-doldrums-on-supply-growth-concerns-2016-05-24) traded modestly higher. European stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-turn-higher-led-by-gains-for-banks-2016-05-24) advanced, led by gains for banks. Asian markets closed mostly down (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asia-stocks-retreat-on-weak-commodity-prices-uncertainty-over-fed-moves-2016-05-24), with blame being assigned to weak commodity prices and uncertainty over the timing of the next U.S. interest-rate increase. Gold futures lost ground, and the ICE U.S. Dollar Index gained.

Check out: This financial sector's boom in China could end with a bust (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-latest-scary-china-chart-this-financial-sectors-boom-could-end-with-a-bust-2016-05-24)

Economic news: The sale of new homes surged 16.6% in April, representing the largest monthly jump in 24 years (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-home-sales-roar-back-crushing-forecasts-with-a-619000-annual-pace-in-april-2016-05-24)--a sign that builders are stepping up as demand for housing remains robust.

Home builders benefited from upbeat data. Lennar Corp. (LEN) and D.R. Horton Inc. (DHI) climbed more than 3%.

Company news:Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL) posted quarterly profit and revenue that topped expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/toll-brothers-profit-jumps-in-second-quarter-beating-views-2016-05-24). Better-than-expected earnings and robust new home sales data sent shares up 6%.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) quarterly results beat forecasts, but the company's guidance disappointed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/best-buy-shares-sink-after-weak-guidance-2016-05-24) and shares plunged 8.2%.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 24, 2016 11:19 ET (15:19 GMT)