U.S. Stocks Gain for Month as Airlines, Retailers Rally.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-28/u-s-stocks-gain-for-month-as-airlines-retailers-rally.html

U.S. stocks rose for the week, capping a second straight monthly increase, as global central banks added stimulus and plunging oil prices triggered gains in consumer companies that overshadowed a slump in energy shares.

Airlines surged 17 percent in November, while gauges of consumer shares rose more than 5 percent ahead of the holiday season. Both groups benefited as West Texas Intermediate crude plummeted 18 percent to a five-year low in the month, dragged lower by rising U.S. supplies and a refusal by OPEC to reduce output. That sent energy stocks down 8.9 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has rallied 11 percent since sinking to a six-month low on Oct. 15. The benchmark index has been boosted by better-than-forecast economic data, including an upward revision for third-quarter U.S. gross domestic product. It’s also been aided by China’s decision to cutinterest rates, as well as fresh stimulus from the Bank of Japan and European Central Bank. The index has advanced 12 percent this year.

“Lower fuel prices have amounted to a major injection of consumption for consumers this quarter and higher spending patterns going into the holidays,” Chad Morganlander, a money manager at St. Louis-based Stifel Nicolaus & Co., which oversees about $160 billion, said in a phone interview. The lower energy prices have “thrown a wet blanket on the U.S. energy complex, but there’s monetary stimulus across the globe that’s ginning up confidence,” he said.

Consumer Confidence

Consumer sentiment climbed to a seven-year high in November as Americans’ views of their financial well-being improved, according to the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index. (COMFCOMF)Earlier in the month a report showed the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 5.8 percent in October, the lowest since July 2008.

“You look at the combination of improvement in labor and the substantial decline in gas prices and I think we’re in a fortunate state of affairs,” Erik Wytenus, a Palm Beach, Florida-based global investment specialist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, said in a phone interview. The division oversees more than $1 trillion in client assets. “With good economic performance and positive stories in the labor markets, we maintain a firm-footed position in how we engage risk markets.”

Retailers Gain

Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. led gains among retailers, climbing more than 15 percent in November. Ross Stores Inc. and Dollar Tree Inc. increased more than 12 percent.

Airline stocks led a 2.8 percent monthly rise in S&P 500 industrial companies as Southwest Airlines Co. climbed 21 percent, while Delta Air Lines increased 16 percent. The Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index surged 17 percent in November.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) led gains in the S&P 500, rising 25 percent for its biggest monthly increase since February 2010. The grocery-store chain posted better-than-forecast quarterly profit as it slashed prices to win over bargain-hunting shoppers.