MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US stocks DJ at 11.000 for the first time since September 2008

Chevron led after saying its oil refineries returned to profitability

United States stocks rose Friday sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly above 11,000 for the first time since September 2008, as growth in wholesale inventories added to signs the economy is strengthening.

Chevron Corp. led the Dow’s gain after saying its oil refineries returned to profitability. Dish Network Corp. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. rallied at least 3.5% on analyst upgrades. Equities also advanced as European officials said they’re ready to bail out Greece if needed, assuaging concern a default by the nation will stifle the global economic recovery.

The S&P 500 gained 0.7% to an 18-month high of 1,194.37 at 4 p.m. in New York and rose 1.4% over the past five days for a sixth-straight weekly gain, its longest streak in a year. The Dow increased 70.28 points, or 0.6%, to 10,997.35 and reached as high as 11,000.98.

US stocks rose as retailers rallied on faster- than-estimated sales growth, helping the market recover from an early slump triggered by concern over Greece’s debt crisis. The S&P 500 has climbed 7.1% this year and the Dow is up 5.5%. This week’s gains came after the government reported the biggest growth in jobs in three years on April 2, while pending home sales unexpectedly rose.

The Dow ended less than three points below 11,000, a level it hasn’t closed above since September 2008, when Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy. Although the index crossed above and below 11,000 in 1999 and 2000, it didn’t “definitively” rise above it until 2006, Jeffrey Kleintop, who helps oversee about 279 billion USD as chief market strategist at LPL Financial in Boston, wrote in a note e-mailed today.

“The move to 11,000 is a clear sign of a well-advanced recovery,” he wrote. “The rally becomes more meaningful for some once the Dow gets back to 11,000, where it was before Lehman Brothers failed -- the event that precipitated the peak of the financial crisis and recession.”