Home construction stocks rally, with several at record highs in wake of surprisingly strong housing starts data

Shares of home builders were broadly higher Tuesday, with a number of them trading in record territory, after data showing a strong and surprising increase in the construction of new homes. The iShares U.S. Home Construction exchange-traded fund
ITB,
+0.72%
climbed 0.8% toward a 17-month high in midday trading, with 36 of 48 equity components gaining ground. That bucked the selloff in the broader stock market, as the S&P 500
SPX,
-0.40%
shed 0.4%. Among the ETF’s more-active home-builder components, shares of Lennar Corp.
LEN,
+1.07%
climbed 1.2%, of D.R. Horton Inc.
DHI,
+1.31%
hiked up 1.2% and of PulteGroup Inc.
PHM,
+1.35%
powered up 1.4%, with shares of all three on track to close at record highs. Elsewhere, Toll Brothers Inc.’s
TOL,
+1.58%
stock rallied 1.5% to be just shy of the June 13 record close of $75.08, and KB Home shares
KBH,
+0.02%
tacked on 0.6% toward the highest close since February 2007.