Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks gained as a record jump in commodity prices lifted energy and metal companies and technology stocks advanced on the prospect President-elect Barack Obama’s spending proposal will revive economic growth.

Exxon Mobil Corp. advanced 5 percent and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. rallied 33 percent, driven by the 8.8 percent jump by the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials. Intel Corp. and Google Inc. rose more than 10 percent as Nancy Pelosi said the U.S. House may act next month on Obama’s stimulus plan, which may reach $600 billion. General Motors Corp. surged at the beginning of the week on speculation lawmakers would approve a bailout, only to retreat after the Senate’s rejection.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.4 percent to 879.73 this week. It alternated between gains and losses every day and posted moves exceeding 2 percent three times. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 5.74 points, or 0.1 percent, to 8,629.68 as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and American Express Co. fell.

“The moves are so rapid and large and seem to come out of nowhere,” said Brian Barish, Denver-based president of Cambiar Investments LLC, which manages about $6 billion. “Even in a bear market, to have this kind of volatility is patently weird.”

The S&P 500’s 3.8 percent surge on Dec. 8 marked the technical end to a 14-month bear market by giving the index a 20 percent gain from its November low. Still, the equity benchmark is down 40 percent for the year.

Oil Rises

Energy companies and raw-material producers posted the biggest gains among S&P 500 industries, adding 8.5 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively. Exxon, ConocoPhillips and Chevron Corp. climbed more than 5 percent. Freeport-McMoRan, the world’s second-largest copper producer, rose $5.48 to $22.28 for the steepest advance since it began trading 13 years ago.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. surged 47 percent, the most since the stock went public in 1993, to $16.64. The second-biggest independent U.S. natural-gas producer said it will cut spending and increase cash because of a plunge in prices.

Oil increased 13 percent to $46.28 on speculation Russia and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will cut production to end the five-month slump in prices. The gain helped the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index, created in 1956, rebound from last week’s record loss. The U.S. Dollar Index fell 4 percent, the steepest decline since 1985, this week.

Yahoo Job Cuts

Technology stocks in the S&P 500 climbed 4.4 percent, the second advance in six weeks. The industry may benefit from Obama’s plan to boost infrastructure and technology spending. The package is expected to be the biggest since the 1950s.

Yahoo! Inc. jumped 13 percent to $13.15 for a third week of gains, the longest stretch since February. The owner of the second-most popular U.S. Internet search engine began cutting 1,500 jobs in response to a slowdown in Internet advertising, according to a person familiar with the matter.

GM gained 21 percent on Dec. 8, only to erase the advance in the next four days. The automaker, which said it will run out of cash by month’s end as sales slump, won a reprieve as the Bush administration said it might finance an industry rescue with funds set aside for banks. The stock slid 3.4 percent to $3.94, a second week of losses.

Ford Motor Co. climbed for a third week, rising 12 percent to $3.04 for the longest streak of gains since May. The second- biggest U.S. automaker said it won’t seek a short-term bridge loan from the government because it doesn’t face a “near-term liquidity issue.”

Slump Protection

NYSE Euronext rose 29 percent to $27.53 for the biggest gain since becoming publicly traded in 2006. Deutsche Boerse AG said it explored a merger with the world’s biggest owner of stock exchanges. The talks “ended without any conclusion,” according to Deutsche Boerse, Europe’s largest exchange by market value.

The so-called VIX, a measure of how much investors are paying for protection from stock declines, slipped 9.4 percent to 54.28, the lowest since Nov. 4. The Chicago Board of Options Exchange Volatility Index is still twice the level from three months ago.

“You have to play the odds, and the odds are risk is high and uncertainty is enormous,” said Marc Groz, chief investment officer of Topos LLC, a Stamford, Connecticut-based hedge fund. “I would expect to see some stabilization, but not now.”

Financial stocks in the S&P 500 lost 5.7 percent collectively. JPMorgan and American Express fell more than 6.6 percent as yields on three-month Treasuries turned negative for the first time, signaling increasing stress in credit markets.

Jobless Claims Surge

FedEx Corp. sank 17 percent to $61.34, the biggest decline in 21 years, after the second-biggest package-delivery company cut its annual profit outlook because of dwindling demand.

The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits surged to the highest level since 1982 and U.S. exports slid to a seven-month low, according to data released this week, signaling the economy is shrinking faster than previously estimated.

U.S. industrial production probably fell in November for the third time in four months, led by a slump at automakers as sales plummeted, economists said before next week’s report.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and Oracle Corp. are among S&P 500 companies scheduled to report earnings next week.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lynn Thomasson in New York at lthomasson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 13, 2008 08:00 EST