U.S. Stocks Rise After Mubarak's Resignation, Gain in Consumer Confidence

U.S. stocks rose for a second week, sending benchmark indexes to 32-month highs, as takeovers, a rebound in retail sales and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation bolstered investors’ optimism.

American Express Co. advanced 6.7 percent to lead gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Walt Disney Co. surged 6.6 percent as the world’s biggest theme-park operator posted higher-than-estimated quarterly profit. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index consumer companies reliant on Americans’ discretionary spending climbed 3.5 percent as confidence rose. NYSE Euronext soared 17 percent after saying it was in talks to be purchased by Germany’s Deutsche Boerse AG.

The S&P 500 rose 1.4 percent to 1,329.15. The Dow added 181.11 points, or 1.5 percent, to 12,273.26. Both have advanced to the highest levels since June 2008.

“While the economy is doing well and CEOs are becoming more optimistic, the highlight of the week for us was the geopolitical events in Egypt, which couldn’t have worked out much better,” said Philip Orlando, New York-based chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors Inc., which manages $358.2 billion. “M&A continues to be a positive for the market.”

The S&P 500 has advanced 5.7 percent this year as better- than-forecast economic data and company earnings boosted confidence in the economic recovery, while the Federal Reserve continued its program of buying $600 billion in Treasuries. There have been 2,707 takeovers announced globally this year, totaling $226.2 billion, a 21 percent increase from the $186.9 billion in the same period in 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.