U.S. Stocks Gain, Led by Energy Shares on Halliburton Earnings

By Elizabeth Stanton

Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rose, adding to the Dow Jones Industrial Average's best weekly gain in five years, after Halliburton Co.'s profit topped estimates and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke endorsed an economic stimulus package.

Halliburton, the world's second-largest oilfield-services provider, jumped 14 percent, while Exxon Mobil Corp. added 4.9 percent as crude rallied above $74 a barrel. Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advanced after three-month interest rates slid the most in nine months. NRG Energy Inc. surged 25 percent, the most since the company reorganized in 2003, on Exelon Corp.'s offer to buy the power producer.

``Whenever somebody reports numbers that exceed expectations, that's a positive not only for the individual stock but the broader market,'' said Dean Gulis, who helps manage about $2.5 billion for Loomis Sayles & Co. in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. ``In a case like Halliburton, it carries over to its sector. You have a good number of attractively valued opportunities out there.''

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 21.8, or 2.3 percent, to 962.35 at 10:12 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 193.46, or 2.2 percent, to 9,045.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 27.56, or 1.6 percent, to 1,738.85. About six stocks rose for each that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.

Bernanke, LEI

The Dow average added to last week's 4.8 percent gain, its best since 2003. Benchmark indexes extended gains after the Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators unexpectedly rose in September and Bernanke said lawmakers should consider new measures to improve access to credit for consumers, homebuyers and businesses.

U.S. stocks climbed last week on the U.S. government's plan to inject $250 billion into financial companies. The Dow is still down more than 30 percent this year and the S&P 500 is off almost 35 percent as credit losses and asset writedowns stemming from the collapse of the subprime mortgage market top $660 billion at financial firms worldwide.

Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 1.8 percent, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 3.8 percent after ING Groep NV received a 10 billion-euro ($13.4 billion) lifeline from the Dutch government and South Korea guaranteed $100 billion of lenders' foreign-currency debts.

Halliburton Earnings

Halliburton jumped $2.58 to $20.84. Excluding an acquisition charge and $693 million in costs related to redemption of convertible bonds, per-share profit was 76 cents, 2 cents higher than the average of 24 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Exxon gained $3.36 to $71.40. Crude oil for November delivery climbed as much as 3.4 percent to $74.28 a barrel in New York on speculation OPEC will cut production to halt a 50 percent slide in prices from July's record.

NRG Energy soared $4.77 to $24.10 after Exelon offered to buy the second-biggest electricity generator in Texas. Exelon, the biggest U.S. operator of nuclear power plans, slid 2.8percent to $53.

Money-market rates fell in Europe and Asia today, extending last week's declines, as central banks around the world intensified efforts to combat a collapse in bank lending. The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, that banks charge each other for three-month loans in dollars fell by 36 basis points to 4.06 percent today, according to the British Bankers' Association.

`Stabilizing the System'

``The bailout plans are stabilizing the system,'' said Benoit de Broissia, an analyst at KBL Richelieu, which oversees $5.4 billion in Paris. ``We're pushing away the possibility of the systemic risk that we feared.''

Bank of America climbed 2.5 percent to $23.83, while Goldman rose 3.8 percent to $118.66.

At least 139 S&P 500 companies will report third-quarter earnings this week, including Apple Inc., Caterpillar Inc. and McDonald's Corp. Wall Street analysts forecast an 11 percent drop in third-quarter earnings in a Bloomberg survey.

American Express Co., the biggest U.S. credit-card company by purchases, and Texas Instruments Inc., the second-largest U.S. chipmaker, are scheduled to report after the market closes today.

Profits for companies in the S&P 500 are forecast to decline 5 percent this year, compared with a 2.7 percent drop predicted a month ago, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Stanton in New York at estanton@bloomberg.net