US stocks rose on Monday as a drop in benchmark bond yields and oil prices below $70 a barrel calmed inflation concerns, while data tempered worries about the housing market. The retreat in yields of US government debt helped buying of interest-rate sensitive stocks, including shares of utilities companies.
Big manufacturers, including 3M Co also advanced along with phone company AT&T, which will be the sole carrier to offer Apple Inc's iPhone. The iPhone will be launched on Friday.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell as investors, anxious about troubled hedge funds and their problems with subprime mortgage holdings, bought safe-haven US government securities. As bond prices rise, bond yields fall.
"The pullback in yields is part of the reason the market is up today. Oil is also off, too," said Rich Parker, head of trading at Stanford Group in New York.
Oil prices rose slightly after falling earlier on optimism that supply from major exporter Nigeria would resume soon. US crude futures edged up 9 cents to $69.24 a barrel.
The pace of existing-home sales last month slipped slightly from April, the National Association of Realtors said, but it was slightly faster than economists had forecast. "The housing numbers were as expected. We could have had a disaster. So the data is helping us take back some of the losses we suffered the other day."
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 96.08 points, or 0.72 percent, at 13,456.34. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 8.52 points, or 0.57 percent, at 1,511.08. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 10.85 points, or 0.42 percent, at 2,599.81.
Trading volume was moderate, with the Federal Reserve's interest-rate policy-setting meeting later in the week generating caution. Shares of utility company Edison International rose 1.2 percent to $52.24, while shares of investment bank Morgan Stanley, another interest-rate sensitive issue, jumped 2.6 percent to $86.78.
The S&P utilities index was up 1.52 percent, while Philadelphia Stock Exchange KBW Bank Index climbed 0.7 percent. General Motors Corp contributed to the Dow's advance with a 2.1 percent rise to $36.20 on the New York Stock Exchange after Goldman Sachs lifted its rating on shares of the largest US automaker. The brokerage cited expectations GM may win concessions from unionised workers.
Shares of AT&T led advances on the S&P 500, with a gain of 2.5 percent to $39.83. Apple shares rose 1.5 percent to $124.77. The Fed is scheduled to begin a two-day meeting on Wednesday. Policy-makers are expected to keep the target for overnight rates steady at 5.25 percent and make only minor changes in a statement about the economy and outlook for rates.
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