Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index higher for a seventh day in its longest rally since 2006, as growth in industrial production and New York manufacturing overshadowed concern Europe’s debt crisis will worsen.
Caterpillar Inc. and 3M Co. led the Dow Jones Industrial Average higher after Federal Reserve gauges of U.S. industrial output and manufacturing in the New York area topped economists’ estimates. Chipmakers fell the most among 24 industry groups after researcher Gartner Inc. predicted spending on semiconductor equipment will drop 1 percent next year.
The S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent to 1,243.33 as of 10:14 a.m. in New York after slipping 0.2 percent earlier. The Dow rose 31.26 points, or 0.3 percent, to 11,507.8. Both gauges are trading at their highest levels since September 2008.
“There’s a tug-of-war going on,” said Philip Dow, director of equity strategy at Minneapolis-based RBC Wealth Management, which oversees $164 billion. “You had Greece, then Ireland, Portugal and Spain. It seems endless. In the U.S., you have good corporate numbers and better economic indicators.”
The S&P 500 has risen about 19 percent since Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke indicated on Aug. 27 that he might pump more cash into financial markets through bond purchases. The Fed announced after its November meeting that it will buy $600 billion in Treasuries and said yesterday it was maintaining that plan. The Fed yesterday left its target for the federal funds rate, which covers overnight interbank loans, in a range of zero to 0.25 percent, marking two years of near-zero rates.
Spain Concern
European stocks fell, with the benchmark Stoxx 600 index halting a seven-day advance. Spain’s credit rating may be cut from Aa1, Moody’s Investors Service said, as the government prepares its final bond sale of the year tomorrow amid concern it may follow Greece and Ireland in seeking a bailout. Spain has to raise 170 billion euros ($226 billion) next year, while refinancing needs for its regions total 30 billion euros and for banks around 90 billion euros, Moody’s estimates.
“Everything seems very fragile and unstable and I’m waiting for the end of the year with impatience,” said Jacques Porta, a Paris-based fund manager at Ofi Patrimoine, who helps oversee about $425 million in stocks. “Spain is now considered as a country that has problems and investors are convinced negative things will come out of there. In the U.S., the economic recovery still isn’t strong enough to solve the unemployment issue.”
Equity futures maintained declines before the start of trading even after a gauge of manufacturing in the New York region rebounded more than forecast in December. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s general economic index climbed to 10.6, exceeding the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Readings greater than zero signal expansion.
Separate Fed data showed U.S. industrial production increased 0.4 percent, topping the 0.3 percent median gain forecast by economists in a survey.
