NEW YORK: Most U.S. stocks rose Monday as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index extended its record level following data last week that showed American employers added more workers than forecast in April.
Financial stocks rallied the most out of 10 S&P 500 groups, as Bank of America Corp. climbed 5.2 percent. Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. of Cleveland added 5.5 percent after being raised to “outperform” from “market perform” by FBR Capital Markets. Humana Inc. added 2.1 percent as its rating was boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. Tyson Foods Inc. slumped 3.3 percent after posting second-quarter profit and sales that missed estimates.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to 1,617.50. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 5.07 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 14,968.89.
“The market’s still feeding off the positive jobs number and the central bank easing that’s been going on,” said Sean Lynch, the Omaha-based global investment strategist for Wells Fargo Private Bank. His firm oversees about $170 billion. “We still like equities. If you look at the landscape of alternatives and opportunities out there, equities are probably the more favorable asset class right now.”
The S&P 500 jumped 2 percent last week as U.S. payrolls expanded by 165,000 workers last month. The median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey called for an increase of 140,000 positions. Global equities also rose as the European Central Bank cut its main refinancing rate. Of the 407 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported profit so far, 73 percent exceeded analysts’ earnings predictions and although 53 percent missed on sales, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
U.S. stocks are in the fifth year of a bull market, as better-than-estimated corporate earnings and three rounds of bond purchases by the Federal Reserve has driven the S&P 500 up 139 percent from a 12-year low in March 2009. The benchmark equity gauge traded above 1,600 for the first time last week, and the Dow briefly surpassed 15,000 on Friday and ended the week 1.8 percent higher.
Cliffs added 5.5 percent to $21.01. The largest U.S. iron-ore producer was raised to outperform from market perform by FBR Capital Markets analyst Mitesh Thakkar, who cited higher confidence in the company’s ability to withstand weak iron ore prices.