March 29, 2024

Stocks & Bonds: Wall Street Rises as Bank Fears Ease in France

All 10 main industries in the S. P. 500 advanced, and gains were led by industrial, raw material and technology companies. The Dow Jones transportation average rose 3.4 percent as airline stocks climbed. Shares in Wells Fargo Company and Fifth Third Bancorp rose more than 1 percent, on the heels of a rally by European lenders. Stock in the health insurer Aetna rose 5.4 percent as it said profit would probably beat its previous forecast.

The S. P. 500 was up 10.6 points, or 0.9 percent, at 1,172.87 after falling as much as 0.4 percent. The index has risen 1.6 percent in two days. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 44.73 points, or 0.4 percent, to 11,105.85. The Nasdaq composite index added 37.06 points, or 1.5 percent, to 2,532.15.

“Stocks are trading on the news of the day and the news was moderately favorable,” said Michael Cuggino, who oversees $15 billion at Permanent Portfolio Funds in San Francisco. “While the issues of liquidity and health of the European banking system and the long-term viability of the euro are still out there, today is a day where people are looking beyond that. We’ve had a big correction. Levels really haven’t gotten back to where they were.”

Global stocks rose as BNP Paribas, France’s biggest bank, and Société Générale surged after easing concerns over their access to funding. Shares in Société Générale jumped after its chief executive, Frédéric Oudéa, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in New York that the bank’s potential losses from European sovereign debt were “manageable” and that it could do without access to money market funds in the United States.

“For our bank, the exposure to sovereign debt is low, absolutely manageable,” Mr. Oudéa said. “We have plenty of buffers of liquidity and we are adjusting to the reduction in the money market fund exposure.”

Stocks briefly trimmed gains after a report that the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, said Greece should not receive any aid beyond what had already been agreed upon.

The KBW bank index rose 1.2 percent. Stock in Wells Fargo gained 1.1 percent to $24.36. Fifth Third Bancorp shares rallied 4.2 percent to $10.35.

All 20 stocks in the Dow Jones transportation average rose. Shares of Delta Air Lines climbed 8.3 percent to $7.99. United Continental Holdings advanced 7.4 percent to $19.28.

Aetna shares rose 5.4 percent to $40.53. Earnings excluding some items this year are now expected to be more than $4.60 to $4.70 a share, the company said in a corporate filing Tuesday. Demand for medical care continues to be lower than previous expectations, helping to contain costs, Aetna said.

The situation in Europe overshadowed the latest economic data from the Labor Department, which said prices of goods imported into the United States fell in August for the second time in three months as the cost of oil and food dropped.

The department said the import-price index fell 0.4 percent. The decline followed a 0.3 percent increase in July. Economists projected a 0.8 percent decrease, according to the median of 52 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Prices excluding fuel rose 0.2 percent.

Interest rates rose. The Treasury’s benchmark 10-year note fell 13/32, to 101 6/32, and the yield rose to 1.99 percent from 1.95 percent late Monday. Gold rose $16.90, to $1,826.80, and crude oil settled at $90.28, a gain of $1.97.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=e351ff399f11c8c1d8867644fddedb95

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