YRC Worldwide Surges After Gain in U.S. Home Sales

YRC Worldwide Inc., the largest U.S. trucking company by revenue, jumped 15 percent after a report showed home sales rose for the first time in seven months, suggesting demand for building-materials shipments may soon recover.

``You've got to move wood, hardware, appliances to build homes and it all plays into creating more freight for the overall economy,'' said Art Hatfield, an analyst at Morgan Keegan Inc. in Memphis, Tennessee, who rates the company ``outperform.''

YRC Worldwide led the five stocks on Standard & Poor's Midcap Trucking Index higher as investors bet that the worst of the housing slump's drag on the economy and freight demand may be passing. U.S. home sales may be ``close to a bottom'' Brian Bethune, an economist at Global Insight Inc., said in an interview today.

Sales of existing homes in the U.S. increased 2.9 percent in February to an annual rate of 5.03 million, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington.

YRC Worldwide rose $1.94 to $14.94 at 4:00 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

The stock fell 69 percent in the 12 months before today, compared with a 28 percent decline by the S&P Midcap Trucking Index that includes Overland Park, Kansas-based YRC.