* S&P 500 rises above key levels as Fed decision eyed
* IBM to buy Netezza for $1.7 billion, lifting both shares
* Lennar, Discover up after beating profit views
* Indexes up: Dow 1.4 pct, S&P 1.5 pct, Nasdaq 1.7 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Updates to close)
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 <.SPX> closed at
a four-month high on Monday as a long-awaited break above a
technical range and a flurry of positive corporate news
increased investor optimism.
The break came a day before a Federal Reserve meeting in
which the central bank is expected to renew a promise to keep
its portfolio from shrinking but is not seen taking new steps
to ease monetary policy. For details, see []
The S&P 500 has struggled to make a sustained move above
1,130, which has been the upper end of a range that has
persisted since June. Monday's gains could be a shot in the arm
if it sways institutional investors that September's rally of
8.9 percent by the benchmark S&P index has further to go.
"We've been waiting for this level to be penetrated, and
breaching it makes it hard to be too negative right now," said
Frank Gretz, market analyst and technician at Shields & Co in
New York.
IBM <IBM.N> was among the top boosts to the Dow after it
agreed to buy Netezza Corp <NZ.N> for $1.7 billion in the
latest in a string of large tech deals. Shares of IBM rose 1.2
percent to $131.78. []
Volume was light with about 7.16 billion shares traded on
the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and
Nasdaq, below last year's estimated daily average of 9.65
billion. Recent days have seen weak to moderate volume, and
traders are looking for a pick-up in trading to confirm the
market has made a convincing breakout.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 145.77
points, or 1.37 percent, at 10,753.62. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was up 17.12 points, or 1.52 percent, at
1,142.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 40.22
points, or 1.74 percent, at 2,355.83.
For a chart on the market's breakout, see:
http://link.reuters.com/def64p
The National Bureau of Economic Research said that the
longest recession since World War Two officially ended in June
2009, though that didn't mean the economy had "returned to
operating at normal capacity."
The bureau's announcement "is a nice shot in the arm,
psychologically, since it suggests more progress than some
parts of the market had allowed for," said Bruce McCain, chief
investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland, Ohio.
"It suggests an opening of potential going forward."
A few weeks before earnings season begins in earnest, two
companies rallied on higher-than-expected profits. Homebuilder
Lennar Corp <LEN.N> surged 8.2 percent to $15.14 while Discover
Financial Services <DFS.N> added 3.8 percent to $16.16.
[] and []
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of about five to one, while on the Nasdaq, advancers
beat decliners by more than three to one.
Gold hit record highs for a fourth straight day as
speculation the Fed may announce further moves to stimulate the
economy piqued interest in the precious metal. The Arca Gold
Bugs index <.HUI>, which tracks the performance of 16
U.S.-traded gold producers, rose 1.4 percent, with Kinross Gold
<KGC.N> up 3.4 percent to $18.82.
On the downside, International Paper Co <IP.N> fell 6.4
percent to $21.92 after an influential trade magazine reported
that it believed packaging producers have not been able to
increase container board prices to customers. []
Also on Monday, a survey showed U.S. homebuilder sentiment
held steady in September, pointing to a still-weak housing
market. []
The S&P broke above a short-term resistance level of 1,140,
the 61.8 Fibonacci retracement of its 2010 high-to-low slide.
(Additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Kenneth
Barry)
