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US market indices rally

05 June 2009 07:52 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Traders are betting that an improving economy will reward banks and energy companies.
Stocks rose for the fifth time in six days Thursday after analysts raised their ratings on banks and oil prices rose again, making energy firms look increasingly attractive. Investors were also willing to take more chances on stocks after the government reported that the number of workers continuing to receive unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell for the first time in 20 weeks.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 74.96, or 0.9 percent, to 8,750.24. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 10.70, or 1.2 percent, to 942.46, and the Nasdaq composite rose 24.10, or 1.3 percent, to 1,850.02.
The S&P and Nasdaq are at new highs for the year, and both are showing gains for 2009. The Dow is now down only 26 points for the year after having been in the red since early January.
The gains in financial and energy stocks offset mixed reports from retailers on their May sales.
Banks got a boost after RBC Capital Markets analysts said the worst of the financial crisis is over. The KBW Bank index, which tracks 24 of the nation’s largest banks, rose 4.8 percent.
KeyCorp. jumped 90 cents, or 19.6 percent, to $5.50 after an upgrade from RBC, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. rose $7.32, or 5.2 percent, to $149.47 after a Bernstein Research analyst raised his rating.
In other trading, the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 8.97, or 1.7 percent, to 531.68.
About three stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 5.1 billion shares compared with 5.2 billion traded Wednesday.
Last week, the 10-year yield surged to a six-month high of 3.75 percent on worries over mounting U.S. government debt loads. Investors are on edge because higher rates on mortgages and other loans could stall an economic recovery.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.8 percent. Germany’s DAX index rose 0.2 percent while Britain’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC-40 each gained less than 0.1 percent.