Jump in crude oil prices helps lift stock market

NEW YORK — Stocks are extending recent gains at the start of a busy week of earnings, nudging the Dow Jones industrial average closer to 10,000.

Major market indicators rose moderately Monday, including the Dow, which rose as much as 67 points to hit a new 2009 high of 9,931. That’s just 69 points away from 10,000, a level not seen in a year. Both the Standard & Poor’s 500 and the Nasdaq composite indexes rose for the sixth day in a row.

Sharp gains in energy and material stocks drove the broader market higher, as the dollar weakened and oil prices spiked above $73 a barrel. Stocks got an early boost from a better-than-expected profit report from Dutch company Royal Philips Electronics. That sent Britain’s leading stock indicator to its highest level in a year.

Trading on Monday was fairly light as much of the country observed the Columbus Day holiday. No major economic reports were due and government bond markets were closed.

Investors looked ahead to the flurry of earnings reports due this week from key companies including Intel Corp., Johnson & Johnson, IBM Corp. and General Electric Co. A number of top U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. will issue reports as well.

At banks, investors are hoping to see signs that consumer loan defaults, including mortgages, are starting to level off, and will be looking for any potential trouble with commercial real estate loans. Overall, the market wants to see evidence that an economic recovery is under way.

The Dow rose 38.47, or 0.4 percent, to 9,903.41 in early afternoon trading. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 6.63, or 0.6 percent, to 1,078.12, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 7.26, or 0.3 percent, to 2,146.54.

Analysts said the gains in stocks Monday show traders are optimistic about the coming reports, especially after aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. — the first of the 30 companies that make up the Dow to report earnings — said last week that it turned a profit for the first time in nine months.

The news helped lift the Dow to its highest level in a year, giving the index a 4 percent gain for the week, its best weekly performance since July.

“There is some key stuff coming and the market has anticipated that it’s going to be good,” said John Wilson, chief technical strategist at Morgan Keegan.

Nearly two stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a light 458.5 million shares, compared with 490.2 million at the same time on Friday.

The dollar mostly fell against other major currencies, helping to drive commodity prices higher. A weak dollar makes commodities more attractive to foreign investors. Gold was up about $9 at $1,058 an ounce, while oil prices added $1.46 to $73.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The dollar has fallen steadily over the past few months, as investors, more upbeat on the economy, take money out of traditional safe-haven assets and put it to work in stocks. The ICE Futures U.S. dollar index, which tracks the dollar against other major currencies, is down 14 percent since early March. The S&P 500 index is up 58.4 percent since then.

Better-than-expected first-quarter results from banks set off the stock market’s rally seven months ago, and even stronger second-quarter results helped fortify the rally in July.

Analysts say companies’ earnings reports will determine where the market heads next. If results exceed expectations and show companies are making money through sales and not just cost cutting, stocks could continue their push higher.

“There’s still room here for equities to move up on the back of better-than-expected results,” said Craig Peckham, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. “I don’t think that positive surprises are fully priced in.”

Still, disappointing earnings could easily upset investors who are looking for reassurance that the economy is growing and lead them to sell stocks.

After two down weeks, the market regained momentum last week after upbeat reports on the service sector and retail sales, as well as Alcoa’s earnings. That momentum is likely to pick up when the Dow crosses the 10,000 level, analysts said, especially with the end of the year approaching.

“You have a lot of pressure on portfolio managers to generate returns that are better than benchmarks,” Peckham said. “There is not a lot of time to catch up.”

Among energy stocks, Peabody Energy Corp. hit its highest level since last October, rising to as high as $41.91. Recently, the stock traded up $1.19, or 3 percent, to $41.26.

Consol Energy Inc. rose to its highest level since last September, touching $51.25. Shares recently rose $1.02, or 2.1 percent, to $50.17.

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which issues results on Thursday, soared after a UBS analyst upgraded the stock to “Buy” and raised his target price and earnings estimates due to expectations for increased growth. Shares gained 32 cents, or 5.4 percent, to $6.20.

In other trading Monday, the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 2.78, or 0.5 percent, to 617.70.

Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 1.1 percent, Germany’s DAX index jumped 1.3 percent, and France’s CAC-40 gained 1.2 percent. In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index finished down 0.9 percent. Japan’s market was closed for a holiday.