U.S. stocks ended higher Tuesday on housing market data.

In the closing trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 61.93, or 0.51 percent, to 12,288.10. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 8.88, or 0.63 percent, to 1,410.94, and the Nasdaq composite index added 13.80, or 0.58 percent, to 2,408.21.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that housing starts were up 9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.525 million in February from a revised 10-year low of 1.399 million in January, beating the expectations for a smaller increase to 1.46 million. Starts are down 28.5 percent compared with February 2006.

Building permits, which are not as affected by weather, fell 2. 5 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1. 532 million from 1.571 million in January