Stocks End June With Four-Day Streak

NEW YORK—The Wall Street Journal
U.S. stocks surged for a fourth straight day to give a strong close to the second quarter, amid encouraging Chicago-area economic data and a pledge from German banks to support heavily indebted Greece.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up rose 152.92 points, or 1.2%, to 12414.34.
Intel led the Dow higher, rising 77 cents, or 3.6%, to $22.16, while Caterpillar jumped 3.10, or 3%, to 106.46.
The blue-chip index is up nearly 480 points this week, its biggest four-day point gain since July.
This week's surge prompted the Dow to finish up 0.8% for the quarter, extending its quarterly streak to four, although it fell 1.2% this month, its second monthly drop in a row.
It also was the seventh consecutive June in which the index has declined.
The Standard &Poor's 500-stock index jumped 13.23 points, or 1.0%, to 1320.64, led by industrial, energy and technology stocks.
All 10 of the S&P 500's sectors ended the day in positive territory.
The index finished the quarter 0.4% lower, snapping a three-quarter win streak.
It fell 1.8% in June.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced 33.03 points, or 1.2%, to 2773.52.
The technology-heavy index closed the quarter down 0.3%, its first down quarter in a year.
Over the quarter, markets were wracked by worries over a possible default by heavily indebted Greece.
Weak U.S. economic data also weighed, and the Dow fell in seven of the previous eight weeks.
The Dow closed up, following a weak second quarter, although it's unclear if the surge has to do with second quarter earnings or fears of Greece receding.
Positive developments on Greece's finances have prompted a swift rally this week.
But investors cautioned not to look too deeply into the four straight days of gains, especially as fund managers tend to adjust their portfolios around quarter's end.
"This is definitely not a frenzied investment period," said Joseph Cangemi, managing director at BNY ConverEx Group.
"This is just a flow of cash being put into equity products that are enhancing certain positions.
It is real investment. I just don't know how long-term it is."
German banks agreed Thursday to take part in a new aid program for Greece by accepting longer maturities for bonds that currently are due by 2014, helping the country avoid a default.
Also boosting sentiment, a survey of Chicago-area purchasing managers beat economists' expectations handily.
The strong figure contrasted with several weeks of tepid economic data.
Strong gains this week from the energy, tech, material and industrial sectors, which have each risen more than 4.5%, helped pare the quarter's overall losses.
"We're starting to see industrial and material sectors take back the mantle of leadership over the past few weeks, which had been ceded to more defensive sectors in preceding months," said Hank Smith, chief investment officer of equities at Haverford Investments.
"This tells you perhaps this economic soft patch really is a short-term phenomenon."
On the economic front, initial claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by 1,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 428,0000.
The data were slightly worse than expected; economists surveyed had forecast claims would fall by 8,000.
The persistently weak state of employment in the U.S. is a familiar theme for investors.
The market has reacted more aggressively to sovereign-debt worries and signs of a broader economic slowdown over the last two months.
In corporate news, Bank of America was the Dow's worst performer, dropping 18 cents, or 1.6%, to 10.96.
The drop came a day after the stock rose 3% as the company reached an $8.5 billion settlement of investor claims on securities purchased before the U.S. housing collapse.
The settlement was viewed as the elimination of a key factor that dragged on the shares.
Eli Lilly edged up 26 cents, or 0.7%, to 37.53.
The drug maker said it expects sales and profits to take a hit over the next several years as top-selling drugs' patents expire, but the company vowed that new drugs would help soften the blow.
Sotheby's rose 71 cents, or 1.7%, to 43.50.
A collection of early works by postwar German painters like Sigmar Polke and Gerhard Richter boosted the auction house's $174.1 million Wednesday sale of contemporary art in London.
Sotheby's said its London branch had never before sold that much contemporary art in a single evening sale.
Callaway Golf shed 11 cents, or 1.7%, to 6.22.
The sporting-equipment maker's chief executive officer resigned as the company provided a weak outlook for the current quarter and said it would cut jobs to reduce costs.
EBay, parent to online payment company PayPal, rose 1.41, or 4.6%, to 32.27.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup analysts upgraded their investment ratings on the shares after the Federal Reserve said that third-party payment systems like PayPal aren't subject to new debit-card rules.
Cell Therapeutics slumped 38 cents, or 20%, to 1.58.
The firm, which is developing a cancer drug, agreed to an equity sale that could dilute the holdings of current shareholders.