A new sign of recovery in the housing market and strong corporate earnings sent stocks higher for a second day. It was a good showing for what has mostly been a miserable July. The Dow Jones industrial average has risen only four times in the last 12 trading days.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 103.16 points, or 0.8 percent, to 12,908.70.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 9.11 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,372.78.

The Nasdaq composite index climbed 32.56 points, or 1.1 percent, to 2,942.60.

For the week:

The Dow is up 131.61, or 1 percent.

The S&P 500 is up 16, or 1.2 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 34.13, or 1.2 percent.

For the year:

The Dow is up 691.14 points, or 5.7 percent.

The S&P 500 is up 115.18 points, or 9.2 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 337.45 points, or 13 percent.