S&P 500 Advances Toward Best Annual Gain Since 2003

Speculation slower growth in hiring will extend Federal Reserve stimulus lifted U.S. stocks and pushed the annual advance in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index within a percentage point of the best yearly gain in a decade.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent to 1,754.67 at 4 p.m. in New York after closing at a record yesterday, bringing its increase since December to 23.0 percent. The gauge would have to reach 1,761 to surpass the 23.5 percent surge in 2009 and be poised for the largest annual rise since 2003, when it climbed 26.4 percent. American stocks have rallied amid $85 billion in monthly bond purchases by the Fed aimed at jumpstarting the economy and record earnings.