U.S. stocks rose, pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a 17-month high, as Citigroup Inc. led a rally among banks and data boosted confidence that the economic recovery is sustainable.
An alliance led by Iraq’s incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s leads in Baghdad and four other provinces, partial results from the March 7 parliamentary elections show, giving him the upper hand in trying to form a new government.
