July 9, 2013, 4:19 p.m. EDT
U.S. stocks rise; S&P 500 nears record

Early earnings optimism boosts the case for equities

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    By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
    NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks climbed on Tuesday, pushing the S&P 500 to within 1% of its all-time closing high, as Wall Street embraced an improving economy and higher interest rates.
    “The market is voting itself that things are improving, with interest rates going higher without taking the stock market down,” said JJ Kinahan, chief strategist with TD Ameritrade.
    The S&P 500 index /quotes/zigman/3870025 SPX +0.72% added 11.86 points, or 0.7%, to 1,652.32, with materials pacing sector gains.
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    Kroger inks deal for Harris Teeter

    Kroger agreed to acquire grocery chain Harris Teeter for $2.44 billion, its largest deal in nearly 15 years,
    as the supermarket owner expands further in the southeastern U.S. Annie Gasparro joins MoneyBeat.

    “From a technical point of view we need to test 1,650 to go higher,” Kinahan added of the level last breached three weeks ago.
    The market can now make a run for the May 21 record close of 1,669.16, he added.
    The benchmark indexes ran up to three-week highs as Alcoa Inc. /quotes/zigman/246295/quotes/nls/aa AA -0.13% started off earnings season, with the aluminum manufacturer the first Dow member to report earnings for the second quarter.
    “Alcoa has become a little like the ceremonial first pitch of a baseball game; we’re waiting for later this week for J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. /quotes/zigman/272085/quotes/nls/jpm JPM +0.35% and Wells Fargo & Co. /quotes/zigman/239557/quotes/nls/wfc WFC -0.30% to really start the game,” said Kinahan of the banking powerhouses slated to report at the end of the week.
    Comments from Alcoa’s CEO playing down worry about the impact of a Chinese slowdown on the company’s bottom line did cheer the market, Kinahan said.
    Extending a winning streak that has benchmark indexes up for a fourth session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/zigman/627449 DJIA +0.50% climbed 75.65 points, or 0.5%, to 15,300.34.
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    Libor is sold to NYSE Euronext

    Libor, the benchmark that underpins interest rates on trillions of dollars in financial contracts, is being sold to NYSE Euronext. An announcement of the deal is expected Tuesday. David Enrich reports.

    The Nasdaq Composite /quotes/zigman/12633936 COMP +0.56% rose 19.43 points, or 0.6%, to 3,504.26, lifting it above its May 21 close of 3,502.12, which was its highest finish since the year 2000.
    Among individual stock movers, D.R. Horton Inc. /quotes/zigman/224125/quotes/nls/dhi DHI +7.55% jumped 7.6%, with shares of the home builder possibly benefiting from a report released Tuesday showing the number of foreclosures down sharply from a year ago.
    Shares of FedEx Corp. /quotes/zigman/254280/quotes/nls/fdx FDX +4.37% rallied 4.4% on speculation that hedge fund Pershing Square was considering a position in the global shipping company. Also read: FedEx takes off.
    Barnes & Noble Inc. /quotes/zigman/132169/quotes/nls/bks BKS +5.38% rose 5.4% after the bookseller said its CEO had stepped down.
    For every stock falling, roughly three gained on the New York Stock Exchange, where nearly 692 million shares traded.
    Composite volume surpassed 3.1 billion.
    On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of oil /quotes/zigman/2291781 CLQ3 +1.34% rose to a 14-month-high of $103.53 a barrel and gold also grew costlier, with futures /quotes/zigman/6585799 GCQ3 +1.15% up 0.9% to finish at $1,245.90 an ounce. In the last three weeks, gold prices slid 13% in their most protracted decline since April, with the value of the metal down 35% from the record reached in the fall of 2011.
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    In a move to increase its presence in the southeastern United States, grocer Kroger Co. /quotes/zigman/231658/quotes/nls/kr KR +2.65% agreed to acquire Harris Teeter Supermarkets Inc. /quotes/zigman/9406270/quotes/nls/htsi HTSI +1.53% .
    On Wednesday, the minutes of the June 18-19 Federal Open Market Committee meeting are slated to be released, and could hold clues as to when the Fed will begin reducing its bond-buying program. See preview
    “It may be September before we actually get an answer. The back-to-school spending and the housing turnover that happens in the early fall are often a good indication of the economy’s health,” said Kinahan.
    Yields have climbed in recent weeks on thinking the Fed would begin reducing its bond buys later in the year. On Tuesday, Treasury prices edged higher, with the 10-year yield /quotes/zigman/4868283/delayed 10_YEAR +0.11% at 2.634%.
    Small-business optimism last month declined from a one-year high, the National Federation of Independent Business reported on Tuesday.
    Job openings climbed to 3.83 million in May, little changed from April, the U.S. Labor Department reported Tuesday.
    /quotes/zigman/3870025
    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-rise-on-earnings-optimism-2013-07-09?link=MW_latest_news