Sunday, March 14, 2010
U.S. stocks rose, pushing the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index to a 17-month high, as Citigroup led a rally among banks and report data boosted confidence that the economic recovery is sustainable.
Citigroup rallied 13 percent on speculation that the U.S. government may sell its stake and on chief executive Vikram Pandit's statement that the bank will be consistently profitable.
American International Group, the bailed-out insurer, surged 22 percent as it sold a division to MetLife for $15.5 billion. Home Depot rose 2 percent and McDonald's gained 2.9 percent as a U.S. retail sales report showed an unexpected increased in February.
The S&P 500 climbed 1 percent to 1149.99 last week. It closed at 1150.24 on March 11, the highest level since October 2008, and has now surged 70 percent since its bear-market low on March 9, 2009. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.6 percent, to 10,624.69.
Banks lead another week of stock market gains - washingtonpost.com
U.S. stocks rose, pushing the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index to a 17-month high, as Citigroup led a rally among banks and report data boosted confidence that the economic recovery is sustainable.
Citigroup rallied 13 percent on speculation that the U.S. government may sell its stake and on chief executive Vikram Pandit's statement that the bank will be consistently profitable.
American International Group, the bailed-out insurer, surged 22 percent as it sold a division to MetLife for $15.5 billion. Home Depot rose 2 percent and McDonald's gained 2.9 percent as a U.S. retail sales report showed an unexpected increased in February.
The S&P 500 climbed 1 percent to 1149.99 last week. It closed at 1150.24 on March 11, the highest level since October 2008, and has now surged 70 percent since its bear-market low on March 9, 2009. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.6 percent, to 10,624.69.
Banks lead another week of stock market gains - washingtonpost.com