U.S. stocks advanced

U.S. stocks advanced, snapping a five-day decline for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, after Alcoa (AA) Inc. reported an unexpected first-quarter profit.

The S&P 500 yesterday capped its longest losing streak since November as a disappointing jobs report and a surge in Spanish and Italian bond yields fueled concern about global growth. The index has risen 8.9 percent in 2012 amid better- than-estimated economic data and corporate earnings.

Dow 12,829.91     +113.98       +0.90%, Nasdaq      3,021.35       +30.13 +1.01%, S&P 500   1,372.10         +13.51 +0.99%

Alcoa climbed 7.8 percent to $10.04. The earnings were “driven by higher-than-expected profitability from every operating segment,” Brian Yu, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. in San Francisco, said in a note. “Good cost control likely played a major role.” The stock dropped 48 percent in the 12 months through yesterday, the biggest decline in the Dow.

Bank of America (ВАС) advanced 3.5 percent to $8.84.

Homebuilders surged. PulteGroup Inc. (PHM), the largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue, increased 7.7 percent to $8.28. D.R. Horton Inc. climbed 4 percent to $14.61 and Lennar Corp. added 3.9 percent to $25.45.

Owens-Illinois Inc. rose 7.5 percent to $23.66. The biggest maker of glass bottles said first-quarter earnings will rise more than 35 percent from a year earlier on good manufacturing performance and greater-than-planned production rates.

Computer Sciences Corp. fell the most in the S&P 500, sinking 3.6 percent to $27.17. The technology contractor for governments and companies said earnings excluding certain costs in the quarter ended March 30 were 19 cents to 21 cents a share. Analysts predicted 97 cents.