Dow Jones:12,350.61 (+71.60) S&P 500:1,328.26 (+8.82) Nasdaq:2,776.79 (+19.90)

US STOCKS rose yesterday, extending the biggest first-quarter rally in 13 years for the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index, as a report showing companies added more workers in March bolstered optimism about the economy.

Cephalon surged 28 per cent for the biggest jump in the S&P 500 after Valeant Pharmaceuticals offered to buy the maker of sleep and pain drugs.

Visa climbed 2.8 per cent on speculation that curbs on debit-card fees will be delayed or modified.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 71.60 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 12,350.61.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 8.82 points, or 0.67 per cent, to 1,328.26.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 19.90 points, or 0.72 per cent, to 2,776.79.

ATT rallied as its chief executive officer pitched the company’s acquisition of T-Mobile USA as a way to boost network capacity and improve service.

Exploration company Cabot Oil Gas was up 5.3 per cent at $53.39. It has risen more than 41 per cent this quarter.

Chesapeake Energy rose 3.1 per cent to $34.33, it is up 32.5 per cent this quarter.

“Given the beginning of a strong cyclical recovery in the US and a tougher environment in many of these other international markets, it seems to us like a good place for investors to be,” said Connor Browne, who oversees about $5 billion as co-manager of the Thornburg Value Fund at Thornburg Investment Management in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

A report from ADP Employer Services yesterday showed companies hired 201,000 workers in March, marking the third time in four months that the nation added more than 200,000 jobs.

A Labor Department report on April 1st may show total US non-farm payrolls rose 190,000 in March and the unemployment rate held at 8.9 per cent, economists predicted.

“There’s certainly some positive expectations for the jobs numbers this Friday,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.

“The expectation is that the US economy is going to remain strong and the equity markets are going to continue higher,” he said. – (Bloomberg)