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NEW YORK: US stocks staged an 11th hour rally Thursday after the head of Citigroup, Vikram Pandit, said he was sure the major bank was on track for a sustainable recovery, lifting sentiment.
After opening mostly lower, the market headed into positive territory in the final hour of trade, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 44.51 points (0.44 per cent) to finish at 10,611.84.
The Nasdaq composite rose 9.51 points (0.40 per cent) to 2,368.46 while the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 4.63 points (0.40 per cent) to 1,150.24.
Earlier, stocks were weak on a disappointing unemployment report and Chinese inflation data that heightened concerns about Beijing's efforts to cool its red-hot economy.
Analysts at Charles Schwab & Co. said the markets were concerned after stronger-than-expected economic data out of China "sparked some fears that the government could rein in stimulus measures and threaten the global recovery."
The fears "were exacerbated by the (US) weekly initial jobless claims report," the analysts said in a client note.
Chinese consumer prices rose for the fourth month running in February while new lending slowed sharply, official data showed Thursday as the government campaigns to tame inflation in the booming economy.
Al Goldman at Wells Fargo Advisors said the market was proving resilient.
"The market continues to act very well into the face of a myriad of concerns and potential stumbling blocks," he said.
Before the opening bell, the US government said 462,000 initial jobless claims were filed in the week ending March 6, slightly higher than analysts' consensus forecast.
The government also reported the US trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly in January as imports and exports declined and overall volume fell for the first time in five months.
The Commerce Department said the trade deficit shrank to a seasonally adjusted US$37.3 billion, down from a revised US$39.9 billion in December.
The decline surprised Wall Street analysts who had expected the trade gap
would widen to US$41.0 billion.
Citigroup chief executive Pandit, brought in to turn around the ailing bank that was rescued by the government, was upbeat at an analysts conference in New York.
"We are well-positioned to return to sustained profitability," he said, sending shares up 5.56 per cent to US$4.18. Citi has climbed nearly 30 per cent since the beginning of the month.
On the merger and acquisition front, Devon Energy gained 0.49 per cent at US$72.04 after saying it will sell deepwater assets to British oil giant BP for US$7.0 billion.
The major strategic deal gives BP more assets in Azerbaijan and the Gulf of Mexico and its first foothold in Brazil. The companies also formed a joint venture in an oil sands project in Canada.
In the tech space, IBM rose 1.58 per cent to US$127.60.
United Technologies climbed 0.35 per cent to US$72.04 after launching a share buyback of up to US$4.3 billion.
The bond market was mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond was unchanged from 3.720 per cent Wednesday and that on the 30-year bond fell to 4.659 per cent from 4.689 per cent. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
- AFP/yb
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