Housing, profits lift Wall St, Amazon up late

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose for a third day on Thursday after upbeat housing data and stronger-than-expected results from companies, including Citrix Systems Inc , overshadowed some high-profile earnings misses.

An index of pending home sales rose to nearly a two-year high in March, sending the Philadelphia Stock Exchange index of housing-related shares <.HGX> up 3 percent. Shares of homebuilder Lennar climbed 5.7 percent to $27.38.

The stock of PulteGroup Inc , the No. 2 U.S. homebuilder, soared 10.1 percent to $9.58 after it reported a narrower-than-expected loss and its biggest increase in new orders in seven years.

After the closing bell, shares of Amazon.com