Stocks rose sharply Monday, with financial and consumer shares leading the rally, as investors welcomed an analyst's improved outlook on Goldman Sachs one day ahead of its quarterly report. Stocks gained through the morning after a shaky start. But the advance was helped after influential banking analyst Meredith Whitney said she was lifting her view on Goldman Sachs and that Bank of America stocks was a good value for investors. However, Whitney said Goldman Sachs, considered to be the strongest bank amid the near-collapse of the financial sector, is unusual and should not be seen as reflecting other financials or other quarterly results. The U.S. federal budget deficit increased in June, pushing the total budget deficit to $1.1 trillion in the first nine months of the fiscal year. Light sweet crude oil for August delivery fell 20 cents to $59.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and gained versus the yen. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 185.16, or 2.3 percent, to 8,331.68. All 30 of the index's components gained, led by oil companies Exxon Mobil and Chevron, technology giant IBM, and financial shares J.P. Morgan Chase and Travelers. Other big advancers included Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, 3M, United Technologies, and Boeing. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 21.92, or 2.5 percent, to 901.05. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 37.18, or 2.1 percent, to 1,793.21. The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 133.85 to 5,761.37. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 23.10 to 1,541.45. And the Russell 2000 index rose 12.33 to 493.31.
