Exxon climbs as crude reaches $100 a barrel

Dow Jones: 11,891.86 (+68.16) SP 500: 1,286.38 (+9.76) Nasdaq: 2,700.08 (+13.19):US STOCKS rose yesterday, extending the second straight monthly gain for the Standard and Poor's 500 index, as businesses expanded at the fastest pace since 1988 and consumer spending and Exxon Mobil's profit beat estimates.

An index of energy shares in the SP 500 rallied 2.6 per cent, led by Exxon, the world’s largest company by market value.

Massey Energy jumped 9.8 per cent after Alpha Natural Resources agreed to buy the coal producer for $7.1 billion.

Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, ended unchanged after saying a design error would cut sales and margins. Rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) rose 4.5 per cent.

The SP 500 rose 0.8 per cent to 1,286.10 in New York, after sliding 1.8 per cent on January 28th amid protests demanding the removal of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 68.16 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 11,891.86.

“It’s economic momentum versus geopolitical risk,” said Eric Teal, chief investment officer at First Citizens Bancshares in Raleigh, North Carolina, which manages $5 billion. “In my view the economy wins.”

Energy shares had the biggest gain among 10 SP 500 industries yesterday, rallying 2.6 per cent.

Brent crude, used to price two-thirds of the world’s oil supply, rose above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2008 on growing confidence around the global recovery.

Exxon gained 2.1 per cent to $80.68. The world’s largest company posted its fourth consecutive quarterly profit increase as burgeoning energy demand boosted oil and fuel prices.

Massey rose 9.8 per cent to $62.82. Alpha Natural’s takeover of Massey Energy creates the world’s third largest producer of coal used to make steel at a time when prices are surging.

Intel was unchanged at $21.46. The company said it would spend $700 million to repair and replace a design fault, cutting first-quarter revenue by $300 million .

The design fault is in a support chip, or chipset, for Intel’s latest processor model called Sandy Bridge, unveiled this month as part of a bid to improve PC graphics and ward off a challenge from AMD. – (Bloomberg))