Stocks Extend Rally to Fourth Day

U.S. stocks on Thursday Extended rally for a fourth day , lifting the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its fourth consecutive quarterly gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 152.92 points, or 1.25%, to 12,414.34. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 13.23 points, or 1.01%, to 1,320.64, down 0.4% for the just-ended quarter and off 1.8% for the month. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 33.03 points, or 1.21%, to 2,773.52, off 0.3% for the quarter and off 2.2% for June.

The Federal Reserve ended its $600 billion bond-buying program, known as QE2, on Thursday and has yet to offer any hints of more monetary easing to come.

Fixed mortgage rates were mostly unchanged this week, hovering near their annual lows. The average rate on the 30-year loan rose slightly to 4.51 percent, Freddie Mac said Thursday.

The Senate will forgo its scheduled recess for the week of July 4 to work on legislation to raise the debt ceiling and cut the deficit, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday.

Private equity firms Blackstone Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG Capital had argued that H-P was stretched too thin and should spin off some units, according to a published report in Reuters on Thursday.