U.S. stocks advanced, erasing the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s 2009 loss, as Bank of America Corp. rallied on higher profit estimates and investors bought shares of utilities and phone companies.

Bank of America advanced 5.8 percent. Dynegy Inc. and FirstEnergy Corp. led electricity companies to the biggest gains in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and AT&T Inc. rallied as investors bought companies less reliant on economic growth. Fewer than 860 million shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the lowest volume this year, after a computer error halted trading in 242 companies.

The S&P 500 added 0.1 percent to a seven-month high of 946.21 at 4 p.m. in New York, jumping 0.5 percent in the final 13 minutes of trading. The Dow average climbed 28.34 points, or 0.3 percent, to 8,799.26. The Russell 2000 Index of small companies rose 0.1 percent to 526.83.

Stocks have now advanced four consecutive weeks. The Dow become the last major U.S. stock gauge to give investors a profit for the year, as confidence increased that the worst recession since World War II is ending.

(Bloomberg.com)