Financials Help Dow Tack on 74.96 Points
Stocks edged higher to resume their recent rally, helped by a rebound in the financial sector and renewed buying in energy and materials stocks as oil prices rallied.</br></br>After a brief decline in the morning, the Dow Jones Industrial Average turned up in the afternoon to end 74.96 points higher, or 0.9%, at 8750.24. It was the Dow's highest close in five months, leaving it fewer than 30 points from breakeven for the year.</br></br>Bank of America rose 5.9%. Chevron advanced 2.2%.</br></br>RBC Capital Markets upgraded its view on the banking sector as a whole to "overweight" from "market weight," saying it believes the broader financial crisis has ended.</br></br>Oil prices jumped 4.1% to $68.81 a barrel, a seven-month closing high in New York, helped when Goldman Sachs lifted its price target to $75 a barrel.