Sales of new homes perked up, while factory orders took off in July, raising hopes that the economy can safely weather the financial turmoil that has shaken Wall Street, the Associated Press reported.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported this morning that new-home sales rose 2.8 percent in July, after falling 4 percent in June. The increase in July lifted sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 870,000 units. A second report showed that orders to factories for big-ticket goods jumped 5.9 percent in July, the most in 10 months.

Both reports were better than analysts expected. They were forecasting home sales to fall and were calling for a much smaller, 1 percent gain in factory orders.

In the housing report, the improvement in sales reflected gains in the West and the South, where sales went up by 22.4 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively. Sales, however, tumbled 24.3 percent in the Northeast and were down 0.9 percent in the Midwest.