August 9th, 2011

U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its biggest rally in almost a year, amid speculation the Federal Reserve will act to restore confidence in the markets after yesterday’s rout in equities.

Financial stocks, which paced a slide that erased $1 trillion in market value yesterday, led gains in the S&P 500 today, rallying 4.5 percent as a group. Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Citigroup Inc. (C) jumped at least 7.2 percent after yesterday plunging more than 16 percent. Chevron Corp. (CVX) and Alcoa Inc. (AA) paced gains in energy and raw-material producers, rising at least 2.7 percent as oil rebounded and gold rose to a record.

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