Stocks Rise but Stay Below 11,000.

Stronger reports on services industries and housing lifted the stock market Monday and pushed the Dow Jones industrial average closer to the 11,000 mark.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 46 points Monday afternoon, nearing the psychological benchmark of 11,000. The growing confidence about the economy hurt demand for Treasuries and drove up interest rates. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to its highest level since 2008.
The Labor Department said Friday that employers added 162,000 jobs in March. It was the biggest gain since the recession began in December 2007. However, the number was fewer than the 190,000 jobs economists forecast. The stock market was closed Friday so investors did not have a chance to trade on the report before the weekend.
Stocks are also rising following an increase in activity in American services industries and a gain in pending home sales.
The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group, said that the nation’s service industry rose in March to 55.4 from 53 in February. Economists had forecast a reading of 54. The growth in the service index is the fastest since the trade group revised how it measured the industry in January 2008.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors said its seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements rose 8.2 percent in February from January.
The reports added to expectations that the economy is making strides.
The government said that private employers accounted for most of the gains in jobs last month. Temporary government hiring for the 2010 census did not pad the figures as much as economists had forecast. The unemployment rate remained at 9.7 percent for the third consecutive month.
High unemployment keeps consumers from spending and loan defaults elevated. The financial industry would get a big lift from a drop in loan losses. Consumer spending accounts for the majority of economic activity in the country.
At the close, the Dow rose 46.48 points, or 0.43 percent, to 10,973.59. The Dow has not traded above 11,000 since Sept. 29, 2008.
The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index rose 9.34 points, or 0.79 percent, to 1,187.44 while the Nasdaq rose 26.95 points, or 1.12 percent, to 2,429.53.
In Asian equity markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average rose 0.47 percent, to 11,339.30, Singapore’s benchmark index also increased 0.9 percent, Indonesia jumped 2 percent and India gained 1.3 percent.
European markets remained closed Monday for the Easter holiday.
Interest rates rose Monday in the bond market on the latest signs that the economy was continuing its slow, steady recovery.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note briefly touched 4 percent for the first time in intraday trading since June. It has not ended the day above 4 percent since before the credit crisis erupted in late 2008. The yield is often used as a benchmark for consumer loans.
The 10-year note yield rose to 4 percent, from 3.94 percent during Friday’s holiday-abbreviated trading session. The bond market closed early for Good Friday.
Monday’s yield on the 10-year note was its highest since October 2008 when it hit 4.09 percent. That came just before the credit crisis peaked and investors bought up safe Treasuries, sending yields plummeting. The yield fell as low as 2.06 percent by December 2008 before slowly starting to recover.
Treasury yields have been rising recently because of weak demand at new auctions and continued signs of economic growth. Yields typically rise and prices fall when the economy improves because investors will pull money out of safe, government-backed bonds and opt for riskier investments, like stocks, that have the potential for bigger returns.
Gasoline and oil prices climbed to 18-month highs Monday as a batch of new economic reports provided more signs that the economy is back on steady footing and demand for crude will follow.
The worry now among some analysts is whether gasoline pump prices are starting to approach a level that could choke off the recovery.
Benchmark crude for May delivery rose $1.75 to settle at $86.62 a barrel in New York trading. On Thursday, the contract climbed $1.11 to settle at $84.87 following a gain of $1.39 on Wednesday.
Global oil trading was closed.
Oil, which has been trading from $75 to $85 a barrel for months, now appears to be in a new range that could go up to $95, according to the oil trader and analyst Stephen Schork.
That will push retail gasoline prices higher at a time of year when prices tend to rise anyway.
The average nationwide retail price for gasoline hit $2.828 a gallon Monday, an increase of 0.2 cent, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. The price has risen 5.2 cents in the last month and now is 78.8 cents higher than a year ago.