U.S. stocks on Tuesday celebrated the start of a new trading year after a gauge of U.S. manufacturing hit a six-month high, adding to cheer that began with solid data from overseas.
“It’s a new year, and you can make the case people came in with a level of enthusiasm, or optimism, that might be guiding investment decisions. Most importantly is the lack of any headlines related to the European situation that is allowing people to focus on the economic data, at least for today,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG LLC.
After rising as much as 262 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lately up 200.03 points, or 1.6%, to 12,417.59.
Bank of America Corp. — last year’s greatest loser among the blue chips — was among the top three gainers on the Dow.
The S&P 500 Index advanced 21.06 points, or 1.7%, to 1,278.66, with natural-resource companies faring best among its 10 industry groups.
The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP climbed 44.09 points, or 1.7%, to 2,649.24.
For every stock that fell, nearly four gained on the New York Stock Exchange, where 581 million shares had traded by 3:30 p.m. Eastern.
The dollar slid against other major currencies and U.S. Treasury prices also fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note 10_YEAR rising to 1.954%.
Crude-oil futures finished at $102.96 a barrel, up $4.03, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Casting an upbeat light on the economy, the Institute for Supply Management reported its manufacturing survey rose to 53.9 last month from 52.7 in November.
Also, the Commerce Department reported construction spending climbed 1.2% in November, the third increase in four months.
The U.S. economic data followed positive reports from overseas, with unemployment falling to a two-decade low last year in Germany and indexes for China’s services and manufacturing industries rising in December.
Stock indexes held their gains after the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting, in which the central bank said it would begin updating the public four times a year, starting this month, on how long it intends to keep interest rates at current levels.
On Friday, Wall Street finished an up-and-down year pretty much where it stood at the close of 2010, with the S&P 500 unchanged in 2011, the Dow industrials up 5.5% for the year and the Nasdaq off 1.8%.
“The volatility of 2011 is not likely to abate in early 2012, and a good long-term buying opportunity could present itself toward midyear as debt problems frustrate investors,” wrote Paul Nolte, managing director at Dearborn Partners, in a research note.
