US STOCKS-Wall St ends at 2009 highs on oil; Google up late

                                
  
                                
 * Energy stocks rise after EIA inventory data
                                
 * Oil prices hit year's high above $77 a barrel
                                
 * Goldman Sachs, Citigroup slip after results
                                
 * Google jumps after bell following results
                                
 * Dow up 0.5 pct, S&P up 0.4 pct, Nasdaq up 0.1 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click [STXNEWS/US]
 (Updates close with context on indexes' gains plus details on
IBM, Google and AMD after the bell and volume)
                                
 By Leah Schnurr
                                
 NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Late-day strength drove U.S.
stocks to 2009 highs on Thursday as rising oil prices lifted
energy shares, eclipsing the banking sector's retreat after
investors panned earnings from Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.
                                
 Indexes once again set highs for the year and the Dow held
above the 10,000 mark after breaching it for the first time in
a year on Wednesday.
                                
 U.S. crude oil futures<CLc1> hit a one-year high, rising
$2.40, or more than 3 percent, to settle at $77.58 a barrel
after data showed gasoline and distillate inventories fell
sharply in the latest week. Energy shares rose, with Chevron
Corp <CVX.N> up 1.6 percent at $76.69.
                                
 While Goldman Sachs Group <GS.N> and Citigroup Inc's <C.N>
results exceeded forecasts, they failed to meet the lofty
standard set on Wednesday by JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N>, the
first major bank to report earnings.
                                
 "It appears the market is reacting to the energy inventory
data, the strength in crude and the idea that the economic
recovery is firming," said Nick Kalivas, vice president of
financial research and senior equity index analyst at MF Global
in Chicago.
                                
 After the bell, the tech sector was in the spotlight with
earnings from bellwethers International Business Machines Corp
<IBM.N>, Google Inc <GOOG.O> and Advanced Micro Devices Inc
<AMD.N>.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> added 47.08 points,
or 0.47 percent, to end at 10,062.94. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> gained 4.54 points, or 0.42 percent, to 1,096.56.
The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> edged up 1.06 points, or
0.05 percent, to close at 2,173.29.
                                
 Goldman's earnings nearly quadrupled, largely because of
strong trading results. Citigroup's third-quarter loss was
narrower than expected, but the company booked $8 billion in
credit losses. For details, see [ID:nN15288862] and
[ID:nN15291217]
                                
 Goldman's stock fell 1.9 percent to $188.63 and Citigroup
shares shed 5 percent to $4.75, while an S&P financial index
<.GSPF> lost 0.7 percent.
                                
 "There's a lot of profit taking and rethinking of the
financial sector," Kalivas said. "I think the expectations for
Goldman Sachs were extremely high, and basically they couldn't
get themselves much over the whisper numbers."
                                
 ACTION AFTER THE BELL
                                
 Google fell 1 percent to $529.91 on Nasdaq during the
regular session. But after the bell, the stock gained 2.9
percent to $545.49 following results that beat expectations as
the Internet search advertising business showed signs of
recovery from the global recession. [ID:nN14269544]
                                
 IBM raised its full-year outlook and AMD reported
stronger-than-expected quarterly results, but both companies'
shares declined after the bell. IBM was down 3.8 percent at
$123.15, while AMD shed 3.2 percent to $5.99. [ID:nN15266489],
[ID:nN15198583]
                                
 DATA POINT TO ECONOMIC RECOVERY
                                
 On the economic front, data showed the Consumer Price Index
prices edged up in September and the number of workers filing
new claims for jobless benefits dropped to a nine-month low
last week. [ID:nN15292883]
                                
 A sharp increase in New York state factory activity was
tempered by a report showing factory activity in the
Mid-Atlantic region grew less than expected.
                                
 Markets will continue to feel the push and pull of earnings
season as investors react to individual corporate results.
                                
 "Most money managers I know, while being respectful of the
upward momentum ... recognize there are significant long-term
problems and issues that need to be faced," said Jim Awad,
managing director at Zephyr Management in New York.
                                
 "I think they will be quick to pull the trigger -- if and
when the momentum dissipates."
                                
 Volume was moderate on the New York Stock Exchange, with
1.36 billion shares changing hands, below last year's estimated
daily average of 1.49 billion, while on the Nasdaq, about 2.20
billion shares traded, below last year's daily average of 2.28
billion.
                                
 Advancing stocks barely outnumbered declining ones on the
NYSE by 1,509 to 1,502. On the Nasdaq, though, the reverse
trend prevailed, with about five stocks declining for every
four that rose.
 (Editing by Jan Paschal)