By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks on Thursday piled new
gains atop their biggest rise in three months as retailers beat
Wall Street's expectations and the European Central Bank said it
would continue stimulus measures.
"A lot of consumers are experiencing recession fatigue for
having denied themselves," Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist
at S&P Equity Research, said of upbeat sales data from
retailers including Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) and Target
Corp. (TGT).
Better-than-expected economic reports from the U.S. and overseas
in recent days have added "credence to bottom-up earnings forecasts
previously viewed as too optimistic," said Stovall.
Poised for its first back-to-back sessions of triple-digit gains
since July 26, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was recently
up 100.69 points, or 0.9%, to 11,356.17, with 25 of its 30
components rising, led by home-improvement retailer Home Depot Inc.
(HD), up 5.8%.
The S&P 500 (SPX) gained 13.83 points, or 1.2%, to 1,219.9,
with financial companies pacing gains and consumer staples the only
lagging sector among its 10 industry groups.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) added 27.02 points, or 1.1%,
to 2,576.45.
For every stock that was declining, more than two stocks gained
on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume neared 742 million
shares as of 3:20 p.m. Eastern.
Before the opening bell, the government had reported that
initial jobless claims increased by 26,000 to 436,000 last week,
while the four-week average declined to a two-year low of
431,000.
"Claims did rise, but the overall trend is still showing a bit
of improvement. Even though unemployment remains above 9%, at least
it's not getting worse," said Stovall of S&P, which is
forecasting that the Labor Department will report the addition of
165,000 jobs in November, about 15,000 greater than the Wall Street
consensus.
The National Association of Realtors said its pending-home-sales
index climbed 10.4% in October, with the trade group's chief
economist saying an improving labor market is giving a lift to the
housing industry, which was described as in a "recovery phase."
In Europe, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said the central
bank would keep offering banks unfettered access to loans through
the first quarter, helping to allay worries that Europe's
sovereign-debt troubles would deepen.
U.S.-listed shares of Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods (WBD) surged 28%
after PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) said it would buy a majority stake in the
Russian company for $3.8 billion. .