U.S. stocks rose for a second week,sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to the highest levelsince September 2008, as President Barack Obama reached a tax-cut agreement with Republicans, General Electric Co. raised itsdividend and consumer confidence topped estimates.
GE rallied 5.6 percent. Citigroup Inc. added 7.2 percentafter the Treasury sold its remaining stake in the bank, andAmerican International Group Inc. increased 12 percent after theinsurer said it will repay a Federal Reserve credit line. TenetHealthcare Corp. surged 55 percent after receiving anunsolicited takeover bid from Community Health Systems Inc.
The S&P 500 rose 1.3 percent to 1,240.40, extending its2010 gain to 11 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Averageclimbed 28.23 points, or 0.3 percent, to 11,410.32. The Russell2000 Index of small U.S. companies climbed 2.7 percent to776.83, the highest level since December 2007.
“We’re starting to see reallocation out of safer Treasuryassets into riskier equities as investors become morecomfortable with growth in 2011,” said David Spika, a Dallas-based investment strategist at Westwood Holdings Group Inc.,which oversees $10.5 billion.
Stocks rose and Treasuries plunged, sending yields on 10-year notes up the most for a week in 2010, amid speculationObama’s plan to extend tax cuts enacted under his predecessor,George W. Bush, will spur economic growth and drive downunemployment stuck near the highest levels since the early1980s. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s index showedthe most confidence among American consumers in six months.
Dimensions in Nature
The equities rally pushed the S&P 500 above the 1,228.74level that marks a recovery of 61.8 percent of its decline froma record beginning in October 2007. The ratio, which correspondsto proportions found in nature, is part of Fibonacci chartanalysis and suggests the market may fully recover its losses.
Economic reports next week include November retail sales,inflation and home construction. Federal Reserve policy makersmeet. Best Buy Co., the world’s largest consumer-electronicsretailer, FedEx Corp., the second-biggest U.S. package shipper,and Oracle Corp., the world’s second-largest software maker, areamong companies scheduled to report quarterly results.
GE rose 5.6 percent to $17.72, the highest price since May13. The world’s biggest maker of jet engines, power-plantturbines, locomotives and medical-imaging equipment raised itsquarterly dividend to 14 cents a share from 12 cents a share,the second increase this year.
Yield Spread
Financial stocks rose the most in the S&P 500, gaining 3.8percent as a group. The widening gaps between short- and longer-term lending rates may improve bank profitability, said Robert Patten, an analyst at Morgan Keegan & Co. in New York. Bank ofAmerica Corp., U.S. Bancorp, PNC Financial Services Group Inc.and Wells Fargo & Co. indicated they may boost their payouts.
Citigroup rallied 7.2 percent to $4.77, the highest sinceApril. The U.S. Treasury sold its remaining stock for $10.5billion, bringing the country’s third-biggest bank a step closerto independence from the government following a $45 billionbailout in 2008.
AIG rose 12 percent to $48.95, the highest since August2009. The insurer that took $182.3 billion in a federal bailoutset a plan to convert the government’s preferred stake intocommon stock, which will then be sold to private investors.
Tenet rose 55 percent, the most since at least 1980, to$6.65. Community Health Systems made an unsolicited offer to buythe company for $7.3 billion in a bid to create the largesthospital operator in the U.S., with 176 hospitals in 30 states.Tenet rejected the offer Dec. 6 as not “remotely fair value.”