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new york — Stocks gained for the first time in three days Wednesday as consumer spending and orders for durable goods topped economists’ forecasts, easing concern that the recession will cause corporate revenue to plummet.

Deere & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. rose at least 2 percent following the Commerce Department data. Micron Technology Inc., the largest U.S. producer of memory chips, climbed 9.8 percent after reporting sales that topped projections. Prologis, the world’s biggest warehouse owner, rallied 31 percent as analysts advised buying the shares after the company sold assets to shore up its balance sheet.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 0.6 percent to 868.15. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 48.99 points, or 0.6 percent, to 8,468.48. The Nasdaq composite index added 3.36, or 0.2 percent, to 1,524.90. Trading ended three hours early before the Christmas holiday.

"It would require something unexpected to really jar the market," said Keith Wirtz, Cincinnati-based chief investment officer at Fifth Third Asset Management, which manages about $21 billion. "Let’s count that as a Christmas blessing. We’ve had enough excitement this year."

Deere, the largest maker of tractors, climbed 2.1 percent to $38.05. Bank of America Corp. rose 6.1 percent to $13.53, while Abercrombie & Fitch, the teen clothing retailer, jumped 6 percent to $21.96.

Micron rose 9.8 percent to $2.59.

Prologis gained the most in the S&P 500, rising 31 percent to $13.28.

Southwest Airlines Co. added 4 percent to $8.10. The world’s largest low-fare carrier unwound most of its fuel hedges and agreed to sell and lease back 10 jets to raise cash.

New York Times Co. dropped 5.2 percent to $6. The newspaper publisher said revenue from continuing operations fell 14 percent in November compared with the year-earlier period, as advertising sales declined 21 percent payday loans.

YRC Worldwide Inc. fell 19 percent to $2.64. The biggest U.S. trucker by sales, which was forced to put up $1.5 billion in collateral after a debt-rating downgrade, disclosed talks with bankers to modify its credit agreements.

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The retreat in the S&P 500 this year has caused losses at all but six of the 1,604 U.S. mutual funds that invest in stocks and have more than $250 million in assets, according to Bloomberg data. For 249 funds, the loss was at least 50 percent.

One of the exceptions was Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co.’s $2.03 billion GMO Alpha Only Fund, which returned 13 percent. Jeremy Grantham, who helps oversee more than $107 billion as chairman of Grantham Mayo, in January recommended shunning stocks and holding cash because of the burgeoning financial crisis. Dubbed a "perma-bear" for his dour view on U.S. equities, Grantham correctly predicted the crash in tech shares two months before the bubble burst in March 2000.

For the second year in a row, financial institutions posted the steepest retreat among 10 industries in the S&P 500. They lost 59 percent as a group in 2008, bringing their two-year loss to 68 percent. Producers of raw materials such as metals, chemicals and agricultural commodities plunged 49 percent.

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