Stocks rise on bond-market relief

NEW YORK - Interest-rate movements called the shots on Wall Street for the second straight day.

The bond market recovered yesterday, bringing stocks along with it, a day after panicky selling pushed long-term borrowing rates to their highest level in six months.

Stock indicators rose more than 1 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which gained almost 104 points.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a widely used benchmark for mortgages and other kinds of loans, moved decisively lower to 3.62 percent from 3.75 percent the day before as investors were relieved to see ample demand at an auction for Treasury debt.

The note's yield had surged the day before, triggering a sell-off in stocks, on concerns that a flood of U.S. government debt coming to market this year would overwhelm demand. Besides raising borrowing costs for the government, higher yields on long-term Treasuries could threaten a recovery by driving up borrowing costs for consumers.

The Dow rose 103.78, or 1.25 percent, to 8,403.80. The S&P 500 index rose 13.77, or 1.54 percent, to 906.83, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 20.71, or 1.20 percent, to 1,751.79.

Light, sweet crude rose $1.63 to settle at $65.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a six-month high. Marathon Oil Corp. jumped $1.77, or 6.05 percent, to $31.01, and Devon Energy Corp. rose $2.02, or 3.35 percent, to $62.31.

Stocks of home builders fell after poor housing data came out and on worries that mortgage rates could move higher. Toll Bros. Inc., of Horsham, fell 58 cents, or 3.22 percent, to $17.44, while Beazer Homes USA Inc. fell 18 cents, or 7.00 percent, to $2.39.

Financial stocks rose. JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose $1.99, or 5.74 percent, to $36.65, while PNC Financial Services Group rose $2.55, or 6.20 percent, to $43.66.

Investors were also focusing on General Motors Corp., which said a committee of bondholders agreed to a sweetened deal to erase some of GM's unsecured debt in exchange for stock. The agreement may not prevent the automaker from seeking bankruptcy protection, but investors are eager for any signs that a reorganization would be orderly. GM shares fell 3 cents, or 2.61 percent, to $1.12.

In other trading yesterday, the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 2.35, or 0.48 percent, to 492.21.

Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.7 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 1.4 percent, and France's CAC-40 slid 0.9 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average edged up 0.1 percent.