Stocks Rebound On China Stimulus Hopes; Rally Carries All 10 S&P Sectors

Stocks closed with solid gains, snapping a six-day losing streak after Chinese officials pledged today to keep the country on a growth tract, reducing worries that the ongoing upheaval in Europe will not drag the rest of the world into recession.

All 10 industry sectors in the S&P 500 closed with hefty gains, led by energy and technology stocks. Crude oil and copper futures also are rallying today, benefiting from the rising expectations for global growth.

The Asian and European markets began the week trading higher as it appeared increasingly likely China may soon announce stimulus actions, according to a front-page commentary today in the China Securities Journal. In Europe, an informal meeting of EU leaders is slated for Wednesday, where French President Francois Hollande is said to be going to press for the introduction of euro-zone bonds.

In a relatively light day for U.S. economic news, the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank this morning released its National Activity Index, with the monthly measure of production-related indicators reversing the prior-month's decline with a 0.55 gain during April.

The weighted index of 85 economic indicators rose to a 0.11 reading last month, up from a negative 0.44 reading in March. The rise was largely led by gains in production and income as well as in the sales, orders and inventories category. The three-month rolling average fell to a negative 0.06 reading from a plus 0.02 in March, the first negative reading since last November. Stocks eased slightly off their initial gains in this morning's pre-trade following the report.

In company news, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has filed suit against JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Citigroup Inc. (C), Bank of America Securities (BAC) and Deutsche Bank AG. (DB), seeking to recover about $92 million in damages, alleging they misrepresented the quality of mortgage loans packed into securities and sold to several failed Illinois bank chains.

Two of the suits, including one in New York and one in California, were filed by the FDIC as the receiver for Strategic Capital Bank. The other, filed in New York, was filed by the agency as the receiver for both Citizens National Bank and Strategic Capital Bank. The FDIC seized the banks in May 2009.

Also today, Eastman Kodak has won a Notice of Initial Determination in the company's patent infringement suit against Apple (AAPL) and Research In Motion (RIMM). An Administrative Law Judge's for the U.S. International Trade Commission sided with Kodak, concluding AAPL's iPhone 3G and the RIMM's BlackBerry devices infringe Kodak's patent, although his recommendation is that the patent claim is invalid.

Commodities are mixed today. Crude oil for June delivery closed $1.06 higher at $92.57 per barrel while June natural gas fell 13 cents to $2.62 per 1 million BTU. June gold fell $3.50 to finish at $1588.60 an ounce while July silver fell 41 cents to $28.31 an ounce. July copper rose 3 cents to $3.50.

Here's where the markets stand at mid-day:

Dow Jones Industrial Average up 135.10 (+1.09%) to 12,504.48

S&P 500 up 20.77 (+1.60%) to 1,315.99

NASDAQ Composite up 68.42 (+2.46%) to 2,847.21

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Hang Seng Index down 0.16%

Shanghai China Composite Index up 0.16%

FTSE 100 down 0.47%

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) KKD Q1 earnings beat estimates by $0.05 a share; guides FY14 in-line with Street.

(+) YHOO Alibaba to buy back half of Yahoo's stake for about $7.1 billion.

(+) MMI Google Gets China regulatory OK for acquisition.

(+) BCS Selling entire Blackrock (BLK) stake for $6.1 billion.

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) LOW Q1 EPS beats by $0.01 but guidance disappoints.

(-) FB Falls below $38 IPO price.