The major stock indexes shot upward at 10 a.m., moments after a report showed that confidence about the economy rebounded in July. Americans surveyed by the University of Michigan and Reuters said they felt better about the economy than any time since April, although the numbers remained far below those at the beginning of the year.

Americans’ expectations stayed subdued, and consumer surveys are considered relatively volatile. But Wall Street shrugged off those caveats, with the Dow trading up more than 70 points before 10:30 a.m. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was up 0.6 percent. Stocks are trying to recover from Thursday’s painful losses.

A separate report showed that orders for big-ticket items rose last month, beating economists’ expectations. A surge in export orders and investment in military-related products sent durable goods orders up 0.8 percent in June from a revised 0.1 percent in May, the Commerce Department said. Excluding orders for military-related goods, orders were up only 0.1 percent.

Sales of newly built homes dropped 0.6 percent in June, but the decline was less than expected, a separate Commerce Department report showed. Inventories dipped as well, as sales fell to a 530,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate.

Sales were up in the Northeast and Midwest, but down in southern and western states. The median price for a new home ticked up slightly, to $230,900, up from $227,700 in May. Home prices are still 2 percent below their level from a year ago.

At the current sales rate, it would take 10 months to work off the current inventory.

“New sales are now very close to their population-adjusted low in 1982, after the last big bust, and we doubt they can fall a great deal further,” Ian Shepherdson, an economist at High Frequency Economics in London, wrote.

The durable goods report, which refers to items designed to last for several years, suggested that the manufacturing sector may be able to muddle through the economic downturn, although it has recorded deep job losses in the last few months.

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