U.S. stocks rose, as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index extended its best weekly gain in more than a month, after Oracle Corp. (ORCL) forecast profit that beat estimates and the rate of economic growth was revised higher. Oracle, the world’s top supplier of database software, climbed 3.5 percent. Accenture Plc (ACN), the world’s second-largest technology-consulting firm, rallied 6 percent after its sales forecast beat analyst’s projections. Smithfield Foods Inc. gained 1.8 percent after the world’s biggest pork processor said it sees no “backup” in Japanese orders. The S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to 1,311.71 at 10:08 a.m. in New York after the benchmark gauge climbed to a two-week high yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 26.64 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,197.20 today. “Corporations are making money amid this pace of economic growth,” said Kevin Caron, a market strategist in Florham Park, New Jersey, at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., which has about $90 billion in client assets. “We saw a solid GDP number. The fact that Oracle reported a decent forecast would be consistent with that trend. As long as the data is supporting the recovery, the S&P 500 can get to $100 a share of earnings over the next year and a half. That means the index rising to 1,500.” U.S. stocks rose yesterday, recouping losses that followed Japan’s March 11 earthquake, after corporate profits topped analysts’ estimates and a government report showed a decline in jobless claims. The S&P 500 has climbed 2.6 percent this week, the biggest gain since the beginning of February. Economic Growth The U.S. economy grew at a 3.1 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, led by a jump in consumer spending that will be hard to match early in the year as energy prices surge. The revised increase in gross domestic product compares with a 2.8 percent estimate issued last month, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Stocks rose even as the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment decreased to 67.5 from 77.5 in February. The preliminary estimate issued earlier this month was 68.2. The median forecast of 67 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected a reading of 68. European Union leaders at a two-day meeting in Brussels agreed to cut the startup capital for the future euro emergency aid mechanism, while Portugal continued to rule out a rescue after the parliament’s rejection of budget cuts led Prime Minister Jose Socrates to offer to quit. Bailout A bailout may total as much as 70 billion euros ($99 billion), two European officials with direct knowledge of the matter said, as credit-rating cuts threatened to deepen Portugal’s debt woes. Oracle climbed 3.5 percent to $33.27 after the company late yesterday forecast profit excluding acquisition costs and some other expenses of 69 cents to 73 cents this quarter, beating the average analyst estimate of 66 cents. Earnings on that basis were 54 cents a share in the period that ended Feb. 28, also exceeding analysts’ projections. Accenture gained 6 percent to $55.10 after its sales forecast for this quarter topped estimates. Third-quarter net revenue, or sales before reimbursements, will grow to a range of $6.3 billion to $6.5 billion, the Dublin-based company said. The average analyst projection in a Bloomberg survey was $6.08 billion. Revenue Growth The company also increased forecasts for full-year net revenue growth to a range of 11 percent to 14 percent, from 8 percent to 11 percent, and for earnings per share to $3.22 to $3.30, from $3.08 to $3.16. “Very robust results from enterprise bellwethers Oracle and Accenture will reassure people that the enterprise capex cycle remains a powerful tailwind,” London-based analysts Jonathan Tseng and Andrew Griffin at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research wrote in a report to clients. Smithfield Foods gained 1.8 percent to $24.40. The world’s biggest pork processor said it sees no “backup” in Japanese orders and that the nation is shifting to fresh pork, according to a Barclays Plc presentation. Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) slumped 10 percent to $57.61 after the maker of the BlackBerry smartphone forecast first-quarter revenue and profit that trailed estimates. Earnings will be $1.47 to $1.55 a share as the company spends more on research and steps up marketing for its PlayBook tablet and new smartphones, RIM said late yesterday. Analysts had predicted profit of $1.66 on average, excluding some costs. To contact the reporter on this story: Rita Nazareth in New York at rnazareth@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net

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