Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks extended a global rally, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a 13-month high, and the dollar slid after the Group of 20 nations agreed to maintain economic stimulus efforts. Commodities climbed, with gold reaching a record above $1,100 an ounce.

American Express Co., Bank of America Corp. and Caterpillar Inc. gained at least 4 percent to lead the Dow’s surge. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. increased 4.6 percent. Benchmark equity indexes for Asia and Europe climbed more than 1 percent. The dollar weakened against 15 of 16 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg, while crude oil surged 2.6 percent and copper snapped a two-day losing streak.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 2.2 percent to 1,093.08 at 4:05 p.m. in New York for its sixth straight gain. The Dow added 203.52 points, or 2 percent, to 10,226.94. Nine stocks gained for each that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.

“This is real bull market stuff,” said Hugh Johnson, who manages more than $1.6 billion as chairman of Albany, New York- based Johnson Illington. “No country is backing away from their program of fiscal stimulus. That’s good news for the global economy and not such good news for inflation. That’s why you’re seeing stock markets around the world going higher.”

Shares of American companies that take in more revenue from abroad have outperformed those with higher proportions of domestic sales as the dollar weakened in the past eight months, making U.S. products cheaper overseas. The 50 companies in the S&P 500 with the highest percentage of overseas sales jumped 76 percent since the benchmark index’s 12-year low on March 9, according to an index compiled by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Multinationals and the Dollar

The Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s strength, has tumbled 16 percent since then and weakened to a 15-month intraday low today as the G-20 agreement encouraged investors to buy higher-yielding assets. S&P 500 companies with little or no revenue outside the U.S. climbed 55 percent since March 9, based on the Goldman Sachs measure.

General Electric Co., the world’s largest maker of power- plant turbines, rallied 3.4 percent to $15.85 today. Caterpillar, the biggest maker of bulldozers, jumped 4.2 percent to $60. Intel Corp., the largest maker of computer chips, increased 2.8 percent to $19.46. Each of the companies gets more than half of its revenue from overseas.

GE also rose after the company agreed with Comcast Corp. to value its NBC Universal at about $30 billion as they discuss creating a joint venture to own the entertainment division, according to three people familiar with the matter.

G-20 Agreement

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, hosting a meeting of finance ministers from G-20 nations, said his colleagues decided to keep interest rates low and maintain record budget deficits until economic recoveries take hold. The G-20 split on whether to introduce a so-called Tobin tax on financial trading as part of a broader strategy to ensure the global economy’s expansion is less crisis-prone.

Financial companies gained the most of 10 industry groups in the S&P 500, adding 3.6 percent collectively.

The Federal Reserve said nine of 10 bank holding companies deemed short of capital in May have raised their reserves enough to withstand the risk of higher unemployment and slower economic growth. Bank of America added 4.8 percent to $15.77 and Morgan Stanley rose 4.1 percent to $33.95.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. climbed 2.8 percent to $176.57. The most profitable securities firm in Wall Street history is underwriting $400 million of bonds backed by an Ohio real estate company’s shopping centers in the first sale to tap a U.S. program to unlock lending in the commercial mortgage market.

Mining Shares Gain

Raw-material producers companies added 3.2 percent for the second-biggest gain among 10 groups in the S&P 500.

Freeport-McMoRan, the world’s largest publicly traded copper producer, increased 4.6 percent to $83.20 as the metal gained for the first time in three days.

Barrick Gold Corp. rose 3.3 percent to $43. Newmont Mining Corp., the largest U.S. gold producer, increased 3.1 percent to $50.56. Gold surged to a record $1,111.70 an ounce as a weakening dollar prompted investors to increase bullion holdings as a store of value.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. jumped 9.4 percent to $16.79. The casino company controlled by billionaire Sheldon Adelson received commitments for $1.45 billion of bank financing to help restart a stalled Macau project.

Altria Group Inc. gained 1.8 percent to $18.87. The largest U.S. tobacco company may rise to $27 if the company improves earnings by cutting costs and raising prices, Barron’s reported, citing David Adelman, an analyst at Morgan Stanley in New York.

‘Better Mood’

Earnings per share have topped the average analyst estimate at 83 percent of the 426 companies in the S&P 500 that reported quarterly results since Oct. 7, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“There’s been better news across the board,” said Greg Woodard, portfolio strategist at Manning & Napier in Fairport, New York, which manages $19 billion. “Investors seem to be in a better mood.”

Sprint Nextel Corp. had the top gain in the S&P 500, surging 20 percent to $3.43. The third-largest U.S. wireless carrier plans to cut 2,000 to 2,500 jobs as it seeks to cut labor costs by $350 million a year. Sprint also said it sees positive free cash flow during the fourth quarter.

Earlier, the shares rose as people familiar with the matter said Sprint plans to invest more to help Clearwire Corp. finish its network expansion on time as it tries to compete with larger rivals AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless.

RadioShack Rallies

RadioShack Corp. jumped 14 percent to $20.27 for the second-biggest gain in the S&P 500. The electronics retailer said it plans to sell Apple Inc.’s iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS at some of its stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth and New York areas beginning later this month.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. advanced 7.4 percent to $37.59. The U.S. retailer specializing in clothes for teens was added to the “conviction buy” list at Goldman Sachs, which cited “significant longer-term growth drivers.”

Shares of companies that supply health-care services and products added 1.3 percent collectively, the second-smallest advance among 24 groups. The U.S. House on Nov. 7 approved the most far-reaching changes to the nation’s health-care system in four decades, voting to require all American to get coverage and to subject insurers to new restrictions and new competition from a government program. The measure would cost more than $1 trillion over 10 years.

Lexmark International Inc. lost 4.5 percent to $25.48. The maker of printers was added to the “conviction sell list” at Goldman Sachs, which said the shares are overvalued and unsustainable “given its weak competitive position and deteriorating installed base.”

‘Crisis Has Abated’

U.S. stocks climbed last week, halting a two-week retreat, after worker productivity, manufacturing and home sales beat economists’ projections and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathatway Inc. agreed to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. in its biggest-ever acquisition.

Berkshire Hathaway said “the credit crisis has abated.” Improvements in the creditworthiness of U.S. companies helped triple third-quarter profit, announced by Berkshire in a Nov. 6 filing. Berkshire made the comment on credit markets in the same filing, saying that “interest rates for investment grade issuers relative to government obligations have declined.” Berkshire’s Class A shares added 0.2 percent to $102,600.20.

Real-estate stocks gained the most among the 24 groups in the S&P 500, rising 5.2 percent. The number of U.S. homeowners who owe more than their properties are worth fell in the third quarter as values stabilized and some homes were lost to foreclosure, Zillow.com said. About 21 percent of owners of mortgaged homes were underwater, down from 23 percent in the second quarter, the research firm said.

Stalled Rebound

The S&P 500 has surged 62 percent from a 12-year low in March even after dropping 2 percent last month on concern the rebound has gone too far relative to the prospects for economic growth.

Stocks around the world had fallen at the fastest rate since the worst of the credit crisis on concern central banks will start raising rates, a signal that triggered the biggest rallies over the past three decades.

Benchmark indexes from New York to Tokyo to Frankfurt lost an average of 3.1 percent from Oct. 19 through last week on speculation policy makers will curtail stimulus measures before the global economy revives. History shows stocks have climbed 92 percent of the time in the six months before government borrowing costs began the biggest increases, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The benchmark index for U.S. stock options fell to a two- week low, adding to its steepest weekly drop in almost a year, as equities rallied around the world. The VIX, as the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index is known, retreated 4.3 percent to 23.15. The VIX measures the cost of using options as insurance against declines in the S&P 500.

To contact the reporters on this story: Lynn Thomasson in New York at lthomasson@bloomberg.net; Mary Childs in New York at mchilds4@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: November 9, 2009 16:38 EST