By Rita Nazareth Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks advanced, erasing half the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s loss from the 17-month bear market that ended in March, after consumer spending rose and rallies in oil and copper drove gains in commodity producers. New York Times Co. and Gannett Co. jumped more than 6.5 percent after Wells Fargo & Co. upgraded the newspaper owners’ shares. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Newmont Mining Corp. advanced at least 0.9 percent as the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of commodities increased 0.5 percent. The S&P 500 added 0.2 percent to 1,120.23 at 9:42 a.m. in New York and earlier surpassed 1,120.84, the level marking a 50 percent recovery of losses from the worst stock market collapse since the Great Depression. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 14.81 points, 0.1 percent, to 10,479.74. “Consumers are in a spending mode,” said Michael Mullaney, a money manager at Fiduciary Trust Co. in Boston, which oversees $9 billion. “The economy and earnings will continue to surprise. Stocks should still do pretty well.” U.S. stocks gained yesterday, sending the S&P 500 to its highest close since October 2008, after home sales topped forecasts. The benchmark index for U.S. equities has climbed 24 percent this year, poised for the biggest annual gain since 2003. Equities have been buoyed by record-low interest rates and by governments worldwide that have committed about $12 trillion to revive the economy. The bear market between October 2007 through March 9, 2009, drove the S&P 500 down 57 percent to 676.53. The index reached an all-time high of 1,565.15 two years ago. To contact the reporter on this story: Rita Nazareth in Sao Paulo at rnazareth@bloomberg.net.

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