U.S. stocks are opening higher on better news on the housing front.

American builders broke new ground on more single-family homes in May and requested more permits to build homes and apartments than they have in the past three and a half years. The increase suggests the housing market is slowly recovering.

Traders are also hopeful that the Federal Reserve will come up with plans to jumpstart the economy during its two-day meeting which starts today.

The Dow Jones industrial average opened up 73 points at 12,815 Tuesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose eight points to 1,352 and Nasdaq composite rose 17 points to 2,912.