* Retail sales data better than expected
* Manufacturing report signals commodity demand
* Retailers Best Buy, Kroger miss estimates
* Dow up 0.8 pct, S&P up 0.5 pct, Nasdaq up 0.6 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click STXNEWS/US (Updates to late afternoon, changes byline)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, Sept 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday to fresh 2009 highs after stronger manufacturing and retail sales data boosted commodity prices and shares of companies in the materials sector.
The improvement in retail sales in August reassured investors about a rebound in demand, needed for the U.S. economy to snap out of recession. A rise in the government's Producer Price Index signaled increased consumption of raw materials. For details see [ID:nN15548319].
Metals prices rose, sending shares of aluminum company
Alcoa
The rise in producer prices and a report showing stronger New York state manufacturing suggested "demand is building there for raw materials," said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 74.59 points, or 0.77 percent, to 9,701.39. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 5.61 points, or 0.53 percent, to 1,054.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 12.49 points, or 0.60 percent, to 2,104.27.
A stronger-than-expected rise in retail sales
notwithstanding, shares of retailers got hit by disappointing
results from Best Buy Co Inc
Shares of electronics store Best Buy fell 5.1 percent to $38.34 while grocer Kroger slid 8.2 percent to $20.29. The S&P Retail index <.RLX> was down 0.25 percent.
It was the first time the S&P 500 rose above 1,050 since early October.
Shares of General Electric
The Nasdaq got a boost after analysts' upgrades of Web
auctioneer eBay
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, speaking at the
Brookings Institution on the one-year anniversary of the
collapse of Lehman Brothers