North American stock market indexes rose at the start of trading on Tuesday after a better-than-expected reading on U.S. home prices and a strong earnings report from the Bank of Montreal.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 40 points or 0.4 per cent, to 9550. The broader S&P 500 rose 4 points or 0.4 per cent, to 1030.

The gains were mostly concentrated among economically cyclical stocks. Bank of America Corp. rose 2.7 per cent, DuPont rose 1.5 per cent, Intel Corp. rose 1.2 per cent and General Electric Co. rose 0.7 per cent.

Homebuilders were especially strong, after the latest reading of the S&P Case-Shiller home price index showed a year-over-year drop in prices that was less than expected - along with surprising month-over-month increase in prices. Toll Brothers Inc. rose 2.2 per cent and KB Home rose 3.4 per cent.

In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index rose 110 points or 1 per cent, to 10,900.

The Big Banks led the way after Bank of Montreal reported better-than-expected earnings in its quarterly results. BMO shares rose 4.8 per cent, representing a sharp reversal from a falling share price over the past two weeks.

Other banks followed. Royal Bank of Canada rose 2.4 per cent and Bank of Nova Scotia rose 2.6 per cent.