April 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks climbed for a second day after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and UBS AG said they are raising $19 billion to replenish capital, spurring speculation that the worst may be over for subprime-related losses.
Lehman rose for the first time in seven days and UBS sparked a rally in European shares after financial firms reported more than $200 billion in losses stemming from subprime-related securities. The AMEX Securities Broker/Dealer Index advanced the most since March 20. General Electric Co. and 3M Co. led industrial shares higher after the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index contracted less than forecast.
``To the extent the market is comfortable that they're able to add to their capital base, it means we are working our way through these problems,'' said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at RidgeWorth Capital Management Inc., which oversees about $74 billion in Richmond, Virginia. ``There's hope we're seeing the end of the write-offs.''
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 29.96 points, or 2.3 percent, to 1,352.66 at 11:01 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 275.45, or 2.3 percent, to 12,538.34. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 52.79, or 2.3 percent, to 2,331.89. About five stocks advanced for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.
The S&P 500 has rebounded 5.7 percent from a 19-month low last month on speculation the Federal Reserve's most aggressive reduction of interest rates in two decades will stem credit- market losses and spur banks to lend to businesses and consumers. The benchmark for U.S. equities still lost 9.9 percent in the first three months of 2008, the worst quarterly decline since 2002, on increased concern that the U.S. economy is in a recession.
Lehman Rallies
Asian stocks rebounded from the worst decline in two weeks and Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index advanced 2.2 percent. Nine of 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 gained, with producers of raw materials posting the only decline.
Lehman climbed $3.16 to $40.80. The firm increased the size of the deal to 4 million convertible preferred shares, or $4 billion, from 3 million announced yesterday as demand ``significantly'' outpaced supply, the New York based-firm said today in a statement. Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan yesterday predicted the offering would be ``an endorsement of our balance sheet by investors.''
The cost to protect the debt of Lehman from default dropped to a one-week low. Lehman led the AMEX Securities Broker/Dealer Index of 12 companies to a 5 percent rally, its biggest gain since March 20.
`Bottoming Process'
UBS's U.S.-traded shares gained $2.49, or 8.7 percent, to $31.29. The bank will seek 15 billion Swiss francs ($15 billion) in a rights offer to replenish capital, on top of 13 billion francs already raised from investors in Singapore and the Middle East. UBS shares were raised to ``buy'' from ``hold'' by Deutsche Bank AG analysts.
Fannie Mae jumped $2.28 to $28.60. Freddie Mac advanced $2.31 to $27.63. The companies may raise as much as $20 billion in capital as part of an agreement that allows them to buy more debt securities, their regulator said last week.
``We're in this bottoming process,'' Tim Ghriskey, who oversees $2 billion as chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management LLC in Bedford Hills, New York, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. ``We need to have exposure to financials. There are real values out there.''
Citigroup Inc., the largest U.S. bank, climbed $1.47 to $22.89. Bank of America Corp., the second-biggest, added $1.56 to $39.47. JPMorgan Chase & Co., the third-largest, rose $2.06 to $45.01.
Morgan Stanley
The S&P 500 Financials Index, which has dropped 11 percent in 2008 after declining last year by the most since 1990, rallied 3.8 percent today. The gauge is up 11 percent from an almost five-year low on March 17.
Morgan Stanley climbed $2.60 to $48.30. The second-biggest U.S. securities firm said its so-called liquidity reserves have averaged $125 billion in the fiscal second quarter as the company strengthened its balance sheet. Liquidity reserves include cash deposits with banks and high-quality securities that can be used as collateral.
National City
National City Corp. gained 33 cents to $10.28. Ohio's biggest bank said its board of directors is reviewing ``strategic alternatives,'' a phrase commonly used to mean a company is looking for a buyer.
Credit market turmoil poses the most severe crisis for banks in 30 years, surpassing Black Monday in 1987, the Asia currency crisis and the burst of the dot-com bubble, Morgan Stanley and management-consulting firm Oliver Wyman said in a joint report today.
GE, the world's biggest provider of power plant turbines, climbed $1.02 to $38.03. 3M, the maker of 50,000 products, rallied $1.69 to $80.84.
The ISM's index increased to 48.6 in March from 48.3 in February, signaling demand from overseas is sustaining manufacturing at a time when consumer spending and business investment are stagnating. Fifty is the gauge's dividing line between expansion and contraction. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a reading of 47.5.
Motorola Inc. gained 19 cents to $9.49. Videocon Group, India's largest consumer electronics maker, may offer to buy Motorola's mobile-phone business. The closely held group is in the initial stages of evaluating a bid, Chairman Venugopal Dhoot said in a telephone interview today, declining to specify financial terms because they haven't been determined yet.
Raw-materials shares declined after prices for gold and copper fell. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., the world's largest publicly traded copper producer, dropped $1.80 to $94.42.
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