Stock Market Indexes At 11-Month High

STOCK MARKET INDEXES AT 11-MONTH HIGH - U.S. stocks rose for a second week, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to an 11-month high, as increases in retail sales and industrial production signaled the economy is recovering. General Electric Co. and Apple Inc. advanced after the August gains at factories and retailers topped economist estimates. Dow Chemical Co. led materials companies to the biggest jump among 10 industry groups after saying it reduced a bridge loan. Verizon Communications Inc. fell the most in the Dow average after its chief executive officer said the company’s wireless business would pay down debt before declaring a dividend to its owners.

The S&P 500 rose 2.5 percent to 1,068.30. The main benchmark for American equities is up 18 percent this year after extending its rebound from a 12-year low in March to 58 percent. The Dow average added 214.79 points, or 2.2 percent, to 9.820.20, the highest close since Oct. 6. The Russell 2000 Index of small companies gained 4.1 percent to 617.88. “Most investors have been skeptical of this rally since March,” said Robert Stimpson, a money manager at Oak Associates Ltd. in Akron, Ohio, which oversees $850 million. “We’re seeing renewed interest in owning stocks again.”

Stocks also responded to comments from Warren Buffett, the billionaire who runs Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. Buffett, speaking at a conference in California, said Berkshire Hathaway is “buying stocks right as we speak.”