17.09.201305:28:24UTC+00U.S. stocks advance on Summer's retreat, Syria weapons transaction

U.S. stocks surge, pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a five-week high and within 1 percent of a record, after Lawrence Summers dropped down his chances to be Federal Reserve chairman and tensions over dealing with Syria’s chemical weapons calmed down.

Boeing Co. rose 3.9 percent to pace advances among industrial shares after Sterne Agee & Leach Inc. lifted its target price. D.R. Horton Inc. and PulteGroup Inc. spiked at least 3.6 percent as housing stocks skyrocketed. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. boosted 3.6 percent after JPMorgan Chase & Co. advised investors to purchase the shares. Packaging Corp. of America climbed 11 percent after it agreed to purchase Boise Inc. for about $1.27 billion. Apple Inc. slid 3.2 percent down, continuing its retreat since introducing the latest iPhone on Sept. 10.

Bernanke Successor

Summers backed down from contention before a two-day Fed meeting starting tomorrow. The former Treasury secretary would tighten policy more than Janet Yellen, who was his main rival to replace Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, according to a Bloomberg Global Poll of investors, analysts and traders last week.

Fed Taper

Economists expect the U.S. central bank to reduce its $85 billion in monthly bond-buying by $10 billion this week, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. The stimulus has helped the S&P 500 rally more than 150 percent from its March 2009 low.

Whipsawed Stocks

Growing speculation about stimulus trims has whipsawed stocks since May, when Fed officials first indicated reductions could start this year. The S&P 500 tumbled 5.8 percent from a record on May 21 through June 24. It bounced back 8.7 percent to close at its latest all-time high before slumping as much as 4.6 percent from that level.

Options Malfunction

The S&P 500 pared its bolstered around 1:40 p.m. as U.S. options exchanges halted trading for about an hour after reporting a malfunction with the industry data feed for disseminating prices. CBOE Holdings Inc., NYSE Euronext, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. and Bats Global Markets Inc. reported shutdowns that were later resolved.

Banks Advance

Financial shares appreciated 1.1 percent as all but three of an S&P index’s 81 members advanced.Wells Fargo & Co., the biggest U.S. home lender, spiked 1.7 percent higher to $42.89. Travelers Cos. gained 1.2 percent to $84.57.

Whole Foods

Packaging Corp. increased 11 percent to $60.43. The fourth-largest U.S. producer of corrugated shipping boxes agreed to pay $12.55 for each Boise share, 26 percent more than Boise’s Sept. 13 closing prices. The deal includes $714 million in debt. Boise rallied 26 percent to $12.56, an all-time high.

Tech Stocks

Technology stocks were the only group to slide down in the S&P 500, missing 0.3 percent. Hewlett-Packard Co. pulled 1.5 percent back to $21.74 for the Dow’s sharpest slide.

Summers Reaction

The dollar depreciated 1.2 percent in the past week through yesterday, the biggest drop among 10 developed-nation currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation Weighted Indexes. Treasuries lost 0.4 percent in September to the end of last week, heading for a fifth monthly drop, according to the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Bond Index.

‘Dovish Stance’

Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, sometimes mentioned as another alternative, doesn’t want the Fed post and has made that clear since leaving the Treasury early this year, according to a person familiar with his thinking, who asked for anonymity to discuss private conversations.

“Summers withdrawing helps to crystallize the outlook and it does put the market on a more dovish stance going forward,” Tai Hui, the Hong Kong-based chief Asia market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, which oversees about $1.5 trillion, said by telephone. “Obviously we have other names, but the reality seems a bit more support for Yellen after Summers’ exit from the race.”

A poll of investors, analysts and traders who are Bloomberg subscribers, conducted Sept. 10, showed Yellen was viewed more favorably. Sixty percent of respondents had a positive view of Yellen, in comparison with 37 percent for Summers.