* Mubarak resigns, lifting sentiment and Egypt ETF
* Kraft shares fall after 2011 profit growth outlook cut
* Obama administration declares home finance model "dead"
* Indexes up: Dow 0.3 pct, S&P 0.5 pct, Nasdaq 0.6 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Updates to late afternoon, changes byline)
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, Feb 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday
after President Hosni Mubarak resigned, helping clear Egypt's
clouded political picture and lifting investor sentiment.
Two weeks of anti-government protests in Egypt had given
rise to concern the unrest could spread across the region and
contributed to volatility in markets worldwide. For details see
[].
"There was concern that this could lead to rising commodity
prices and a flight to the dollar and now some of that
uncertainty has been removed," said Matthew Keator, partner in
the Keator Group, a wealth management firm in Lenox,
Massachusetts.
Market Vectors Egypt Index ETF <EGPT.P> rallied on the
news, soaring 4.7 percent to $18.64 and setting a record for
daily volume.
Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman said a military
council would run the affairs of the most populous Arab nation.
A free and fair presidential election has been promised for
September, though some questioned the army's appetite for real
democracy.
"There's still uncertainty over the region," Keator said.
"And there's still potential for commodity prices to rise from
this in the future."
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 38.52
points, or 0.31 percent, at 12,267.81. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was up 6.77 points, or 0.51 percent, at
1,328.64. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 16.83
points, or 0.60 percent, at 2,807.28.
Kraft Foods Inc <KFT.N> limited gains in the Dow a day
after it cut its 2011 profit growth forecast, sending the stock
down 1.8 percent to $30.55, the biggest percentage decliner on
the blue-chip index.
Shares of mortgage insurers rose after the Obama
administration presented options for overhauling the wrecked
U.S. housing finance system. The administration pledged to
continue backing existing obligations of government-controlled
mortgage finance sources Fannie Mae <FNMA.OB> and Freddie Mac
<FMCC.OB>. []
PMI Group <PMI.N> shares rose 3.4 percent to $3.36 and
Radian Group <RDN.N> gained 13.4 percent to $8.02.
A drought in Northern China has hit 7.7 million hectares of
winter wheat growing areas, which, coupled with strong demand,
is lifting some agricultural processor stocks, according to
optionMonster co-founder Jon Najarian. Agribusiness Bunge Ltd
<BG.N> rose 3.2 percent to $71.24 and Archer-Daniels Midland Co
<ADM.N> gained 1.8 percent to $36.09.
On the S&P 500, the energy sector was one of the weakest
performers as oil prices declined in parallel with a
falling-off of worries of possible oil supply problems in the
Middle East. The sector <.GSPE> fell 0.2 percent while March
crude futures <CLc1> dropped 1.3 percent.
Nokia <NOK1V.HE> <NOK.N>, the world's largest cellphone
maker, and Microsoft <MSFT.O> teamed up to build an iPhone
challenger in an attempt to take on Google and Apple in the
fast-growing smartphone market.
U.S.-listed shares of Nokia slumped 16.2 percent to $9.12.
Dow component Microsoft was 0.8 percent lower at $27.27.
(Editing by James Dalgleish)
