Credit Herald

New york — Stocks rose for the first time in four days on Monday as lower oil prices, improved business activity and a Treasury plan to help prevent financial crises boosted expectations the economy will weather growing credit losses.

Citigroup Inc., Wachovia Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. helped the Standard & Poor’s 500 index pare its biggest quarterly decline since 2002. General Electric Co. and FedEx Corp. rallied after the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago’s business index increased more than forecast. Merck & Co. fell the most since 2004 after doctors recommended not using two of its cholesterol pills in favor of low-cost alternatives.

The S&P 500 climbed 7.48 points to 1,322.7. The Dow Jones industrial average increased 46.49 to 12,262.89. The Nasdaq composite index added 17.92 to 2,279.1.

Wachovia gained $1.01 to $27. JPMorgan rose 24 cents to $42.95. Citigroup added 59 cents to $21.42.
Morgan Stanley gained 96 cents to $45.70. Merrill Lynch & Co. added 81 cents to $40.74.

Financial shares may pare their gain today. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. said after the close of U.S. exchanges that it’s selling at least $3 billion of convertible preferred shares to U.S. institutions to reassure investors it has access to capital. Lehman, which slipped 0.6 percent in regular trading, extended its decline by $1.73 to $35.91 in after-hours trading as of 4:50 p.m. in New York.

FedEx rose $1.40 to $92.67. Deere & Co. increased 50 cents to $80.44.

Micron Technology Inc. rose 51 cents, or 9.3 percent, to $5.97 for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 no teletrak payday loans.

SanDisk Corp. added $1.31 to $22.57. Intel Corp. increased 39 cents to $21.18.

Crude oil fell 3.8 percent to $101.58 a barrel in New York.

General Motors Corp. gained 38 cents to $19.05.

Macy’s Inc. climbed $1.09 to $23.06. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. advanced 56 cents to $52.68. Target Corp. increased 99 cents to $50.68.

AT&T Inc. gained 64 cents to $38.30.

Fortune Brands Inc. jumped $5.64 to $69.50 on a plan to repurchase as many as 15 million shares after losing the bidding for the Absolut vodka brand.

Rowan Cos. advanced $3.30 to $41.18 for the largest gain since July 2002. The U.S. oil and natural-gas driller said it will pursue monetization of its manufacturing unit LeTourneau Technologies Inc. Options include an initial public offering, Rowan said.

Merck declined $6.56, or 15 percent, to $37.95. Schering-Plough Corp. sank $5.06, or 26 percent, to $14.41 for the biggest drop since Bloomberg began tracking price data in July 1980.

A study showing their jointly sold cholesterol pills Vytorin and Zetia work no better than a generic medicine at one-fifth the price may cost the two companies $1.3 billion in sales this year and $1 billion next year, said Goldman Sachs analyst Jim Kelly.

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