US market treats recession like blip

US stocks rose for a third week, completing the Dow Jones Industrial Average's best month since 2002, as companies from Motorola to MasterCard topped analysts' profit estimates.

Amgen, the world's largest biotechnology company, and Dow Chemical, the largest US chemical maker, gained after earnings beat projections. General Electric surged 11 per cent on speculation new banking rules will allow it to keep its finance unit. Yahoo! slumped after terms of an internet-search accord with Microsoft were less favourable than analysts predicted.

"What's been driving the market is the idea that maybe this recession isn't going to be as severe or prolonged as we thought," said Samuel Stewart, president of Wasatch Funds, which manages US$5 billion ($7.66 billion) in Salt Lake City. "The market is behaving as though the credit crisis was a blip on the radar."

The S&P 500 rose 0.8 per cent to 987.48, the highest since November 4, capping its fifth straight monthly advance. The main benchmark for American equity has rebounded 46 per cent from a 12-year low on March 9. The Dow Jones rose 78.37 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 9,171.61, extending its monthly advance to 8.6 per cent, the biggest since October 2002.