NEW YORK, June 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks traded higher on Friday as housing data from the country came out positive.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 3.14 points, or 0.01 percent, to 21,400.43. The S&P 500 gained 4.07 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,438.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 12.93 points, or 0.21 percent, to 6,249.62.

Sales of U.S. new single-family houses in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000. This is 2.9 percent above the revised April rate of 593,000 and is 8.9 percent above the May 2016 estimate of 560,000. The latest reading was higher than market consensus of 590,000.

Meanwhile, U.S. private sector firms recorded a further solid expansion of business activity in June, but there was a loss of momentum since May.

According to financial information company Markit on Friday, the seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index fell from 53.6 to 53.0 in June, lower than market expectations. The latest reading signaled the slowest upturn in business activity for three months.

Moreover, market participants were awaiting the closely-watched St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester's speeches scheduled for later Friday to get more clues about the future pace of rate hikes. Enditem

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