Markets gain modestly, U.S. housing data boosts Wall Street

By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) - World equity indexes advanced modestly on Monday as upbeat U.S. housing data helped Wall Street shrug off a weak manufacturing report, while the prospect of higher U.S. interest rates lifted the dollar for a third day. U.S. equities rebounded as a report showed that U.S. homebuilder sentiment rose in August to its highest level in nearly a decade. Earlier in the session, stocks had dropped as Empire State data showed August manufacturing activity in New