By Rita Nazareth and Elizabeth Stanton (Bloomberg) – U.S. stocks rose on the anniversary of the 2009 bear-market low for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index amid speculation the economy will continue to recover from the worst contraction since the Great Depression.

United Technologies Corp., AT&T Inc. and General Electric Co. led the gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Boeing Co. advanced after Northrop Grumman Co. withdrew as a bidder for a U.S. Air Force contract. UAL Corp. led airlines higher after reporting an increase in a measure of revenue.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to 1,141.14 at 10:55 a.m. in New York. The benchmark gauge for U.S. equities ended a six-day rally and closed little changed yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 23.05 points, or 0.2 percent, to 10,575.57.

“It’s happy anniversary day,” said Philip Orlando, New York-based chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors Inc., which oversees $400 billion. “The economy is out of recession, the improvement is sustainable and stocks will continue grinding higher. Investors are waiting for the next catalyst.”

The S&P 500 is up 68 percent since hitting a 12-year low of 676.53 one year ago today, the biggest rally for the index since the Great Depression. The main benchmark for American equities is still down more than 1 percent from this year’s high amid concern about some European countries’ ability to pay back debt and as investors speculated the Federal Reserve will need to rein in emergency stimulus measures as the economy improves.

‘Acrophobia’

“Stocks are still cheap,” said billionaire Kenneth Fisher, who oversees $37 billion as chairman of Fisher Investments Inc. in Woodside, California. “The nature of the beginning of the second year of a bull market is one where people are still climbing the wall of worry and they have ‘acrophobia’ because they didn’t expect we’d go up so much and that gives them fear of heights. We’ll see the year nicely higher.”

“We’re poised for risk assets to do well for a few quarters,” said David Darst, the New-York based chief investment strategist at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, which has $1.6 trillion in client assets. “The interest rate is low, inflation is low and liquidity is enormous. The final positive is global growth. At the end of this year, we’ll be looking at 2011 earnings, when the market can earn $85. If you put a 14 times multiple on that, it gives you a 1,233 price for the S&P 500.”

United Technologies increased 1.6 percent to $71.86. The maker of Pratt & Whitney jet engines and Otis elevators was raised to “outperform” from “neutral” at Cowen & Co.

UAL rose 7.2 percent to $18.78. The parent of United Airlines said February revenue for each passenger flown a mile increased by between 17 percent and 19 percent.

Boeing, Comerica

Boeing gained 0.6 percent to $67.65. The world’s second- largest commercial-plane maker is the only bidder for the U.S. Air Force’s $35 billion tanker program after Northrop Grumman withdrew because the government refused to alter some of its requirements.

Yum! Brands Inc. climbed 3.2 percent to $36.55. UBS AG upgraded the shares to “buy” from “neutral” and raised its price estimate on the shares 16 percent to $44, saying the stock has underperformed its global consumer peers.

Comerica Inc. retreated 2 percent to $35.58. The bank, with a market value of about $5.5 billion, is raising about $800 million by selling shares. BMO Capital Markets cut its rating on the shares to “market perform” from “outperform.”

First Solar, Chevron

First Solar Inc. fell 2.4 percent to $106.05. The world’s largest maker of thin-film solar modules was downgraded to “underweight” from “neutral” at JPMorgan. Energy Conversion Devices Inc., also lowered to “underweight” from “neutral” at JPMorgan, fell 2.9 percent to $8.31.

Chevron Corp. fell 0.2 percent to $74.49. The second- largest U.S. energy company plans to sell a U.K. oil refinery, cut 2,000 jobs and shed assets in the Caribbean and Central America to stanch losses from its fuel-making business, according to a presentation that Mike Wirth, executive vice president of global downstream, told analysts today in New York.

H&R Block Inc. retreated 2.5 percent to $16.17. The biggest U.S. tax preparer said same-office tax returns prepared in retail operations slid 6.8 percent for the fiscal 2010 tax season through Feb. 28, compared with the same period a year earlier.

–With assistance from Rita Nazareth in New York. Editors: Michael P. Regan, Joanna Ossinger

To contact the reporters on this story: Elizabeth Stanton in New York at estanton@bloomberg.net; Rita Nazareth in New York at rnazareth@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net.

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