Stocks on Wall Street rose to end their biggest weekly gain since November and after the main indexes had hit 12-year lows on Monday. Friday’s action was boosted by takeover speculation that lifted healthcare companies, After major banks reported restored profitability, financial shares capped their steepest advance on record. The main Dow Jones index gained 53.92 points to close at 7223.98, clinching a 597-point, four-day rally. It finished up 9% for the week, though it remains 49% below its October 2007 peak. The S&P 500 increased 0.8% to 756.55. The S&P 500 rose almost 11% over the past five days, its biggest weekly increase since a 12% rally in the period ended November 28. Humana, the second-biggest provider of US-funded health insurance, jumped 7.7% as investors placed bets that it will be acquired. Merck added 13% after positive response to the planned purchase of Schering-Plough. Citigroup and Morgan Stanley climbed more than 5% as the S&P 500 Financials Index posted a five-day gain of 34%, the best week since the gauge was created in 1989. Canadian stocks posted their biggest weekly gain since January 2 after telephone and mining shares rallied on demand for dividends and gold as a haven from the recession. Energy stocks declined with oil prices. The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index added 0.3%, to 8303.38. The benchmark rose 9.4% this week, after retreating to the lowest in five years on March 9. European stocks climbed, capping the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index’s biggest weekly rally in two months. HSBC added 6.7% while Barclays and Credit Suisse rose more than 3%. BHP Billiton led a rally in commodity producers after China’s Premier Wen Jiabao indicated he may add to earlier stimulus measures to revive the world’s third-biggest economy. The Stoxx 600 climbed 0.7% to 168.57, advancing 5.7% this week, the most since January 2. National benchmark indexes rose in 12 of 18 western European markets. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 added 1.1% to 3753.68, sending the FTSE 100 Index to its biggest weekly gain in two months. Germany’s DAX Index slipped for the first time in five days, trimming its biggest weekly gain this year. BMW and Daimler, the world’s biggest makers of luxury cars, snapped a five-day advance after European auto sales dropped. The DAX Index fell 0.1% to 3953.6, though the benchmark still climbed 7.8% for the week, the steepest advance since the period ended November 28. France’s CAC 40 rose for a fourth day, adding 11.38, or 0.4%, to 2705.63. Commodities: Oil down, gold up Crude oil fell after the International Energy Agency and Opec cut their global demand forecasts because of the recession in major consuming countries. The IEA, which advises 28 developed nations on energy policy, lowered its consumption outlook 0.3% to 84.4 million barrels a day. Opec reduced its 2009 oil-demand prediction, saying the global economy was in a “dreadful situation.” Crude oil for April delivery fell 78USc, or 1.7%, to settle at $US46.25 a barrel in New York. Prices rose 1.6% this week and are 3.7% higher so far this year. Gold rose for a third straight day on speculation the recession will widen, boosting the appeal of the precious metal as a store of value. Silver also gained. Gold futures for April delivery rose $US6.10, or 0.7%, to $US930.10 an ounce in New York. Mercantile Exchange. The price rose 3.1% in the previous two sessions. Currencies: Yen, Swiss franc fall The yen fell against most of its major counterparts and posted a fourth weekly decline versus the euro on speculation the worst of the banking crisis may be over, reducing demand for Japan’s currency as a refuge. The yen was down for a fourth week against the euro, losing 1.7% in its longest stretch of decline since January. Against the dollar, the yen gained 0.3% after a six-week losing streak. The yen declined 0.4% to ¥126.68 versus the euro. The yen also lost 0.3% to ¥98.06 per dollar. The Swiss franc recorded its largest weekly loss against the euro since 1999 after the Swiss National Bank started selling the currency to stem its appreciation. The dollar dropped against the euro this week on reduced demand for the world’s reserve currency after financial firms including Bank of America and Citigroup said they have become profitable. The dollar traded at $US1.2919 against the euro. The euro advanced 2% versus the dollar this week, the biggest increase since mid-December. The Canadian dollar strengthened for the first week in five as investors ventured into riskier assets, driving stock markets to the year’s biggest gains and dimming the appeal of haven currencies. The loonie, as Canada’s currency is known, rose 1.2% over the past five days. The Canadian currency climbed to $C1.2715 per US dollar. One Canadian dollar buys 78.65USc.

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