U.S. STOCKS - Wall St up on jobless claims, new home sales

By Edward Krudy

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, supported by data that pointed to stabilization in the labor and housing markets, areas that have fed concerns about a "double dip" recession.

New claims for jobless benefits fell sharply in the latest week, while sales of new U.S. single-family homes rose in October to their highest level in a year.

That added to investors' risk appetite, which helped push the safe-haven U.S. dollar to a 15-month low against a basket of currencies and lifted commodity prices and natural resource stocks.

Trading volume was light one day before the Thanksgiving holiday, with many senior traders absent from trading floors. Even so, the Dow industrials were set to close at a fresh 13-month high.

Fred Dickson, market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon, said the drop in weekly jobless claims and stronger home sales set a slightly better economic tone.

"It's a little bit of a Thanksgiving lift on Main Street," he said. "On a different day this week, we probably would have seen a big bounce in the market."

He said some of the lift should spill over to next week after a shorter trading day on Friday.

U.S. financial markets are shut on Thursday to mark Thanksgiving. The U.S. stock market will close at 1 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Friday.