S&P 500 Clinches Four-Day Win Streak on Data, Romney

FOX Business: The Power to Prosper

Heading into Friday's crucial jobs report, the S&P 500 rallied for the fourth session in a row on Thursday as investors' appetite for risk was boosted by a pair of economic reports that beat expectations and Mitt Romney's feisty debate performance.

Today's Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 80.75 points, or 0.60%, to 13575.36, the S&P 500 gained 10.41 points, or 0.72%, to 1461.40 and the Nasdaq Composite added 14.23 points, or 0.45%, to 3149.46. The FOX 50 picked up 6.59 points, or 0.60%, to 1103.37.

In addition to the latest economic data, stock prices were lifted by another pledge from the European Central Bank to keep the eurozone intact.

For the first time this week, Wall Street opened in the green and managed to successfully stay there throughout the session, giving the S&P 500 a four-day win streak.

Most of the Dow's 30 stocks closed higher, led by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Alcoa (NYSE:AA), which kicks off earnings season next week. The index's weakest links were Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO).

"I think Romney's strong performance was considered a positive for the markets," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at investment advisory DowBull. "The markets tend to do better under Democrats but they feel better under Republicans."

The financial sector was the best performing group, soaring 1.5%, perhaps amid hopes a Romney upset after could lead to a repeal of the Dodd-Frank financial reform. Individual names like Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Citigroup (NYSE:C) enjoyed even stronger rallies.

While banks rallied, hospital stocks like Tenet Healthcare (NYSE:THC) and HCA Holdings (NYSE:HCA) retreated amid concerns Romney’s debate win could undermine the future of President Obama’s health-care reform, which has been seen as a positive for the sector.

Not everyone was sold on the market performance being tied to politics though.

"I'm not going to say it's a Romney rally," said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG, pointing to the stronger-than-expected economic data.

Economic Data, Euro in Focus

Stocks hit session highs shortly after the Commerce Department said U.S. factory orders tumbled 5.2% in August, beating forecasts for a 6% decline but still marking the biggest drop since January 2009. However, excluding transportation, orders were up 0.7%.

The markets also responded positively to a new report showing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week to 367,000 from an upwardly revised 363,000 the week before. Claims had been expected to jump to 370,000 from a previously reported 359,000.

Wall Street is anxiously awaiting Friday's government jobs report, which is forecasted to show the U.S. created 115,000 jobs last month, up from 96,000 in August. The unemployment report is seen rising to 8.2% from 8.1%.

In Europe, the Bank of England and the ECB kept interest rates steady as expected. During a press conference, ECB President Mario Draghi repeated his promise that the euro is "irreversible" and defended his actions, saying the central bank is acting strictly within its mandate.

"Draghi reinforced the idea that the euro is here to stay. We want to hear reassuring comments that their end game is still the same," said Pado.

Meanwhile, the eurozone is exploring boosting struggling Spain by providing insurance for investors who buy government bonds, Reuters reported.

The minutes from the Federal Reserve's September QE3 meeting suggested the central bank could install inflation and unemployment thresholds that would indicate when interest rates will rise. Despite some dissension to QE3, most policymakers determined the lackluster economy needed more Fed stimulus.

The retail sector closed solidly higher after U.S. retailers released September results that showed same-store sales rose by an in-line 3.6%, according to Thomson Reuters.

Target (NYSE:TGT) and Macy's (NYSE:M) disclosed sales that missed expectations, while Costco (NASDAQ:COST) beat forecasts.

In the commodities complex, crude oil rebounded in a big way from its worst one-day percentage decline since the end of 2011. After diving 4.08% on Wednesday due to jitters about China's economy, crude on Thursday settled up $3.57 a barrel, or 4.05%, to $91.71. Gold jumped $16.80 a troy ounce, or 0.95%, to $1,794.10.

Corporate Movers

Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) is exploring a counterbid for No. 5 player MetroPCS (NYSE:PCS) that would trump T-Mobile USA's offer earlier this week, Bloomberg News reported. One obstacle could be hefty breakup fees that T-Mobile and MetroPCS would owe if either backs out of the tie-up.

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) revealed it hit the one billion monthly active user mark in September. The milestone comes just over two years after the social network celebrated 500 million users.

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) said it may slash more than the previously-announced 4,000 jobs at its Motorola Mobility business and raised the price tag on restructuring and severance charges for the third quarter to $340 million.

Global Markets

The Euro Stoxx 50 slipped 0.27% to 2485.75, London's FTSE 100 gained 0.03% to 5827.78 and the German DAX lost 0.23% to 7305.21.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 0.89% to 8824.59 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.09% to 20907.95.