Mining, industrial firms lead US stocks higher

NEW YORK—US stocks closed higher Wednesday led by industrial and mining companies, as traders eyed the knock-on affects of higher metal and commodity demand and Japanese reconstruction.

The Dow was dragged upward by aluminum giant Alcoa, which added over three percent, and manufacturing behemoth 3M which rose by 1.6 percent as the costs of everything from aluminum to tin rose.

The prospect of massive reconstruction efforts in Japan pushed some sectors higher, while the general market was firm despite some poor US data.

“A late-day rally pushed the three major equity indices into positive territory,” said Sara Kline of Moody’s Analytics.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 67.39 (0.56 percent) to 12,086.02.

The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 3.77 points (0.29 percent) to 1,297.54, while the Nasdaq index rose 14.43 (0.54 percent) to 2,668.30.

The move came despite the Commerce Department reporting that sales of new US homes slumped to the lowest level since the 1960s, offering more evidence of a lingering real estate crisis.

Sales tumbled nearly 17 percent in February, the Commerce Department said, to a seasonally adjusted total of 250,000 sales during the month.

That marked the lowest number of units sold since 1963, when records began.

Turmoil across North Africa and the Middle East and fears of spreading radiation from Japan’s hobbled nuclear plant also did little to weigh down on the markets.

Elsewhere, Bank of America shares fell 1.7 percent after it said the Federal Reserve denied it permission for a “modest” dividend increase.

BofA said the central bank – which had placed a moratorium on new dividend payments or increases on the biggest banks as they rebuilt capital – said it could apply for the increase again with a revised capital plan.

BofA said it would submit a new plan and “intends to seek permission for a modest increase in its common dividend for the second half of 2011.”

Bond prices were flat. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose slightly to 3.34 percent from 3.33 percent late Tuesday, and the 30 percent stood at 4.44 percent.