U.S. stocks rose, helping the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rebound from its steepest drop in seven years, as speculation American International Group Inc. would weather a funding shortage boosted financial shares in the last hour of trading.

Benchmark indexes crossed between gains and losses more than 25 times, and AIG pared most of a 74 percent decline, as investors weighed the fate of the largest U.S. insurer after credit-market losses forced Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. into bankruptcy. Merrill Lynch & Co. led a 6.2 percent rally in the S&P 500 Financial Index a day after the measure of banks, brokerages and insurers plunged the most since at least 1989.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 141.51, or 1.3 percent, to 11,059.02 after twice erasing losses of more than 100 points. The S&P 500 increased 20.9 points, or 1.8 percent, to 1,213.6.

(Bloomberg.com)