U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index higher for a third day, as better- than-estimated jobless claims, consumer confidence and leading indicators bolstered optimism in the world’s largest economy.

Stocks rose today as the number of applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly dropped last week to the lowest since April 2008. Confidence among U.S. consumers rose more than forecast in December, to a six-month high, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan sentiment index, as Americans began wrapping up their holiday spending. The index of U.S. leading indicators climbed more than estimated in November, a sign that the economy will keep growing in 2012.

Dow 12,160.15 +52.41 +0.43%, Nasdaq 2,597.73 +19.76 +0.77%, S&P 500 1,251.54 +7.82 +0.63%

The KBW Bank Index gained 1.8 percent. Morgan Stanley added 3.8 percent to $15.48. Citigroup gained 4.7 percent to $27.32. JPMorgan rose 2.3 percent, the second-most in the Dow, to $33.07. Bank of America Corp. (BAC) advanced 2.1 percent to $5.34.

Akamai surged 18 percent to $31.39. Cotendo, founded in 2008 and based in Sunnyvale, California, has about 100 employees, half of them in Israel, where the company has a technology center, according to a statement today.

Yahoo! Inc. rallied 1.4 percent to $16.22. The company is considering cutting its 40 percent stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to about 15 percent, two people briefed on the matter said. Dana Lengkeek, a spokeswoman for Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo, and Alibaba spokesman John Spelich both declined to comment.