U.S. Stocks Rise as Dow Extends Record on Stimulus Bets

U.S. stocks rose, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average extending a record, as investors awaited retailer earnings reports to gauge the strength of consumer demand and the likelihood of cuts to monetary stimulus.

Transocean Ltd. added 3.6 percent after the offshore rig contractor agreed with investor Carl Icahn to propose a $3 per share dividend. ViroPharma Inc. jumped 26 percent as Shire Plc. bought the company for about $4.2 billion. Best Buy Co. rose 4.5 percent after a UBS AG analyst upgraded the stock. KKR & Co. fell 1.5 percent after it bought Brickman Group Ltd. for $1.6 billion.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.1 percent to 1,771.89 at 4 p.m. in New York to close within a point of its record. The Dow rose 21.32 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,783.1. About 4.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 21 percent below the three-month average. Bond markets were closed because of the Veterans Day holiday.

The S&P 500 added 0.5 percent last week for a fifth week of gains, the longest streak since February. Better-than-forecast data on jobs and growth indicated the economy is strong enough to withstand a reduction in Federal Reserve stimulus, even as consumer spending climbed last quarter at the slowest pace since 2011. There were no economic reports today.

(Source: Bloomberg)