* S&P 500 rises above key levels as Fed decision eyed
* IBM to buy Netezza for $1.7 billion, lifting both shares
* Lennar, Discover up after beating profit views
* Indexes up: Dow 1.4 pct, S&P 1.5 pct, Nasdaq 1.7 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US] (Updates to close)
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 <.SPX> closed at a four-month high on Monday as a long-awaited break above a technical range and a flurry of positive corporate news increased investor optimism.
The break came a day before a Federal Reserve meeting in which the central bank is expected to renew a promise to keep its portfolio from shrinking but is not seen taking new steps to ease monetary policy. For details, see [ID:nSGE68J04M]
The S&P 500 has struggled to make a sustained move above 1,130, which has been the upper end of a range that has persisted since June. Monday's gains could be a shot in the arm if it sways institutional investors that September's rally of 8.9 percent by the benchmark S&P index has further to go.
"We've been waiting for this level to be penetrated, and breaching it makes it hard to be too negative right now," said Frank Gretz, market analyst and technician at Shields & Co in New York.
IBM
Volume was light with about 7.16 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, below last year's estimated daily average of 9.65 billion. Recent days have seen weak to moderate volume, and traders are looking for a pick-up in trading to confirm the market has made a convincing breakout.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 145.77 points, or 1.37 percent, at 10,753.62. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 17.12 points, or 1.52 percent, at 1,142.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 40.22 points, or 1.74 percent, at 2,355.83.
For a chart on the market's breakout, see: http://link.reuters.com/def64p
The National Bureau of Economic Research said that the longest recession since World War Two officially ended in June 2009, though that didn't mean the economy had "returned to operating at normal capacity."
The bureau's announcement "is a nice shot in the arm, psychologically, since it suggests more progress than some parts of the market had allowed for," said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland, Ohio. "It suggests an opening of potential going forward."
A few weeks before earnings season begins in earnest, two
companies rallied on higher-than-expected profits. Homebuilder
Lennar Corp
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of about five to one, while on the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners by more than three to one.
Gold hit record highs for a fourth straight day as
speculation the Fed may announce further moves to stimulate the
economy piqued interest in the precious metal. The Arca Gold
Bugs index <.HUI>, which tracks the performance of 16
U.S.-traded gold producers, rose 1.4 percent, with Kinross Gold
On the downside, International Paper Co
Also on Monday, a survey showed U.S. homebuilder sentiment held steady in September, pointing to a still-weak housing market. [ID:nN20262375]
The S&P broke above a short-term resistance level of 1,140, the 61.8 Fibonacci retracement of its 2010 high-to-low slide. (Additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Kenneth Barry)