US Stocks Rise

U.S. stocks posted their second gain this week, buoyed by the prospect of increasing sales and earnings at telephone companies, raw-materials producers and luxury retailers.

The advance, led by phone carrier AT&T Inc., steelmaker Nucor Corp. and department-store chain Nordstrom Inc., enabled the market to recoup about a third of its losses since Feb. 27.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose to one-week highs after falling yesterday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to its highest this month.

``Earnings are still good, the economy is still growing,'' said Hans Olsen, who helps oversee more than $2 billion as chief investment officer at Bingham Legg Advisers LLC in Boston. ``After the craziness of last week, people will come back to the fundamentals and they'll look at how companies are actually performing.''

AT&T had its biggest rally in six weeks after A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. said wireless revenue growth will bolster earnings. Nucor climbed the most since January on its forecast that improved demand will increase profits. Nordstrom led retailers higher after sales surged last month.

The S&P 500 added 9.92, or 0.7 percent, to 1401.89. All 10 of its main industry groups rose. The Nasdaq increased 13.09, or 0.6 percent, to 2387.73. The Dow average advanced 68.25, or 0.6 percent, to 12,260.70.

Stocks retreated yesterday after D.R. Horton Inc., the nation's second-largest homebuilder, said a yearlong housing slump will continue in 2007 and the Federal Reserve cited slowing growth in several local economies.

Global Gains

Today, indexes rose after European stocks rallied for a third day, while Japan's Topix index had its best performance since October. India's Sensitive Index gained the most in eight months.

Prospects for better corporate earnings were buoyed by a Bloomberg survey showing economists expect growth to pick up as the economy overcomes slumps in housing and investment.

Overall, gross domestic product may expand at a 2.4 percent annual rate this quarter, and accelerate to 3 percent by year's end, according to the median estimate of 75 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News from March 1 to March 7. The economy grew at a 2.2 percent pace in the last three months of 2006.

Telecommunications shares gained 2 percent as a group after A.G. Edwards raised AT&T to ``buy'' from ``hold.'' Shares of the biggest U.S. phone company jumped $1.08, or 3.1 percent, to $36.51 for the best performance in the Dow. Separately, AT&T sold the equivalent of $2.8 billion of bonds today, according to e- mailed statements from banks organizing the sale.