US stocks make modest gains

Wall Street extended its rally with modest gains in the major indexes today following two days of sharp advances, despite economic readings which painted a mixed picture of the economy.

Though the indexes rose, declining issues narrowly outpaced advancers on the New York Stock Exchange.

On Tuesday and yesterday, the market had posted its biggest two-day rally in five years. Hopes have been growing that financial companies may be recovering from the credit crisis and that the Federal Reserve may lower interest rates to calm the markets.

The market’s anticipation of a rate cut follows comments from a Fed official yesterday and comes ahead of a speech by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Oil prices spiked early today and then fell back somewhat after a fire at an Enbridge Energy pipeline carrying crude from Canada to the Midwest.

The oil price recovery gave some strength to energy stocks.

Meanwhile, financial companies, which had shown gains yesterday, retreated, as did retailers following a weak showing by Sears Holdings Corp.

Apart from a reading on third-quarter growth, economic news did not offer investors much reason to cheer.

“The data’s weak, and says to us that the Fed needs to stay engaged here,” said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 22.28, or 0.17%, to 13,311.73.

Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index edged up 0.70, or 0.05%, to 1,469.72, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 5.22, or 0.20%, to 2,668.13.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 9 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.33 billion shares compared with 1.30 billion traded yesterday.

Bond prices rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 3.94% from 4.05% late yesterday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. The dollar rose against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Among financials, Merrill Lynch & Co fell 38 cents to 57.41 dollars, while Bank of America Corp fell 22 cents to 44.63 dollars.

Stocks’ fluctuations followed the mixed economic readings.

The Commerce Department reported that economic growth in the third quarter was 4.9%, faster than originally thought, although analysts are anticipating a slowdown in the fourth quarter.

US home prices showed a quarterly decline for the first time in 13 years in the third quarter, according to figures from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which reported a 0.4% drop nationwide for the July-September period.

The economic reports came as investors awaited clarity on the Fed’s direction on interest rates. Mr Bernanke was due to speak this evening at the Chamber of Commerce in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Investors have sent stocks sharply higher in recent days partly because Fed vice chairman Donald Kohn suggested another interest rate cut could be in store. The Fed, which has cut rates at each of its last two meetings, is due to meet again on December 11.

Wall Street has also been calmed by evidence that companies hurt by sub-prime problems have found financial backers to help stem the damage.

In the latest such action, E-Trade Financial Corp said on today that Citadel Investment Group will provide 2.5 billion dollars in cash to shore up its balance sheet. It also said chief executive Mitchell H Caplan has resigned.

E-Trade, which holds billions in risky mortgage debt, said it will sell its entire portfolio of asset-backed securities to Citadel for 800 million dollars and book a 2.2 billion dollars charge on the sale. E-Trade fell 46 cents, or 8.7%, to 4.82 dollars.

In other corporate news, Sears Holdings, parent of its namesake department store chain and Kmart, said profits plunged to a penny per share from 1.27 dollars per share a year ago due to lower sales and clearance markdowns. The stock fell 12.25 dollars, or 10.5%, to 104.09 dollars.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 3.98, or 0.52%, to 766.06.