Stocks bounced back in the wake of yesterday’s sell-off, with news of a rise in December existing-home sales feeding optimism, the Wall Street Journal reports. Merck continued to rise after reporting a quarterly profit, closing up 7.7% and boosting other pharmaceuticals. The Dow closed up 141.53 points at 8,078.36 The Nasdaq rose 21.87 points to close at 1,516.30, and the S&P 500 gained 13.06 points, settling at 838.50.
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