* New home sales post biggest monthly gain in eight years
* Home builders, banks up after home sales data
* Amgen profit beats view, shares up after the bell
* Dow up 0.2 pct; S&P up 0.3 pct; Nasdaq up 0.1 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news click []
(Updates to add Amgen after results, volume)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, July 27 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose slightly on
Monday in a late rally as investors rotated into financial
shares, which had lagged in the recent two-week run-up.
Upbeat data on new home sales underpinned financial
stocks, the session's strongest sector, and prompted investors
to snap up the shares of several regional banks, which had
been among the worst hit by credit losses tied to a weak
housing market.
Regions Financial Corp <RF.N> jumped 8.9 percent to $4.02
on the New York Stock Exchange and Zions Bancorporation
<ZION.O> soared 13 percent to $12.65 on the Nasdaq, while the
KBW Bank Index <.BKX> rose 3.1 percent.
Financials had lagged in the previous weeks, but Friday
saw the beginning of a rotation into the sector and out of
technology, which continued Monday, according to Michael
James, senior trader at Wedbush Morgan in Los Angeles.
The Dow Jones U.S. home construction index <.DJUSHB> shot
up 4.3 percent after data showed U.S. new home sales posted
their biggest monthly gain in eight years in June, suggesting
the housing market may be starting to recover from its worst
slump since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Stronger-than-expected earnings, coupled with upbeat
economic data, have lifted indexes recently, giving stocks
their best two-week run since just after the S&P 500 hit a
12-year closing low in the beginning of March. The three major
indexes rose about 11 percent each over the past two weeks.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> rose 15.27 points,
or 0.17 percent, to close at 9,108.51. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> gained 2.92 points, or 0.30 percent, to
982.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> added 1.93 points,
or 0.10 percent, to end at 1,967.89.
"There was a little more willingness to bid stocks up two
weeks ago on positive earnings surprises," said Wedbush
Morgan's Michael James. "You're seeing people less willing to
do that now, given the move the market has had in the last two
weeks."
Shares of Dow component Verizon Communications <VZ.N> fell
1.6 percent to $31 after the company reported second-quarter
earnings that fell from a year ago. []
Aetna shares shed 2.7 percent to $25.72 after the company,
one of the biggest U.S. providers of employer-based health
insurance, cut its full-year outlook, citing
higher-than-projected medical costs. []
AMGEN JUMPS AFTER THE BELL
After the closing bell, shares of Amgen Inc <AMGN.O> rose
3.2 percent to $62.72 as the biotechnology company raised its
full-year earnings forecast and reported a
better-than-expected quarterly profit. Amgen said its results
were helped by strong sales of its rheumatoid arthritis drug
and a tax benefit. [] The stock closed on Nasdaq
at $60.77, down 0.25 percent, or 15 cents, before the release
of the results.
In the regular session, volume was light on the New York
Stock Exchange, where about 1.04 billion shares changed hands,
less than last year's estimated daily average of 1.49 billion.
On the Nasdaq, about 2.16 billion shares traded, below last
year's daily average of 2.28 billion.
Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a ratio of
9 to 5, while on the Nasdaq, about 13 stocks rose for every 10
that fell.
(Editing by Jan Paschal)
