US STOCKS-Wall St jumps on G20 hope, mark-to-market change

                                
 * G20 plans, mark-to-market changes lift banks
                                
 * Jobless claims higher than expected
                                
 * Factory orders rise in February
                                
 * S&P up 3.1 pct, Dow up 3 pct, Nasdaq up 3.4 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news click [STXNEWS/US]
                                
 By Chuck Mikolajczak
                                
 NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose for a third
straight session on Thursday on optimism the G20 meeting in
London will agree on ways to temper the economic crisis and
that new U.S. accounting guidance will favor banks.
                                
 World leaders will triple the war chest of the IMF to fight
the worst economic crisis since the 1930's and impose curbs on
financial markets, monetary sources at the G20 summit said. For
details see [ID:nL1230573].
                                
 In the United States, the Financial Accounting Standards
Board said new mark-to-market accounting guidance will be
effective for the second quarter, with early application
allowed for the first, and not be retroactive. [ID:nWEN6801]
                                
 Financial shares, a key driver behind the recent rally,
surged on bets for an improving global economy and relaxation
of accounting rules that have resulted in sharp hits to their
balance sheets.
                                
 "Relaxing mark-to-market does give the banks a little more
flexibility that they can perhaps mark a few things up," said
Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in
Chicago.
                                
 "It's also the symbolism of the G20 that there will be
coordinated efforts to stimulate the world economy."
                                
 The news from the leaders of the Group of 20 major
developed and emerging economies and the mark-to-market rules
adjustment more than offset data which showed the number of
U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose to the
highest in over 26 years in the latest week. [ID:nN02543463].
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 228.75
points, or 2.95 percent, to 7,990.35. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> climbed 25.03 points, or 3.09 percent, to 836.11.
The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> rose 52.82 points, or 3.40
percent, to 1,604.42.
                                
 Government data showed U.S. factory orders rose in
February, breaking a six-month streak of declines and boosting
hopes the economy may be starting to climb out of recession.
[ID:nN02196557]
                                
 Shares of Bank of America <BAC.N> jumped more than 7
percent to $7.55 while Citigroup <C.N> rose 6.7 percent to
$2.86. The KBW Bank index <.BKX> gained 4 percent.
                                
 Chevron <CVX.N> was among the top boosts to the Dow, its
shares rising 2.7 percent to $70.14, as crude oil futures
<CLc1> climbed more than 7 percent to $52.00 on optimism about
an economic recovery and a weaker dollar.
                                
 Shares of General Motors <GM.N> surged nearly 11 percent to
$2.14, a day after executives cited March sales data that
pointed to the "first signs of brightening" in the auto
industry. [ID:nN01353569]
                                
 In earnings news, shares of Monsanto Co <MON.N> slipped 0.1
percent to $81.65 after the the world's biggest seed company
reported second-quarter profit that beat Wall Street
expectations. [ID:nN02545173]
                                
 Walgreen Co <WAG.N> said comparable store sales for March
rose 1.5 percent, while comparable pharmacy sales increased 5.7
percent. Shares rose 4.7 percent to $27.74.
 (Additional reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by James
Dalgleish)