U.S. stocks rose, erasing the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s 2009 loss, after home sales beat estimates and manufacturing in China increased for the first time in nine months, boosting confidence the global recession is easing.

Financial stocks rallied after a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategist boosted his rating on the industry, while Wells Fargo & Co. added 23 percent as Warren Buffett called it a “fabulous” bank. Alcoa Inc. and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. gained more than 6.9 percent amid climbing metals prices. Lennar Corp. surged 9.3 percent, helping lift a measure of homebuilders in S&P indexes by 9.2 percent.

The S&P 500 rose 3.4 percent to a four-month high of 907.24 at 4 p.m. in New York. The index never rose in 2008, a year in which it plunged 38 percent for the worst performance since 1937. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 214.33 points, or 2.6 percent, to 8,426.74. The MSCI World Index of 23 developed markets gained 3 percent, also erasing its year-to- date retreat.

(Bloomberg.com)