Seventh Straight Rise Lifts Dow to 2½-Year High

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 71.52 points, or 0.6%, to 12233.15, the highest close since June 16, 2008. It was the seventh-straight increase, the longest win streak since one MBT Maliza that ended in July 2010.

McDonald's jumped $1.91, or 2.6%, to $75.36, after the fast-food chain said sales at stores open more than a year rose 5.3% in January from a year earlier, topping the 3.1% rise expected. It cited the diversity of its menu and the addition of oatmeal to it.

The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 13.06, or 0.47%, to 2797.05, the highest close since Nov. 6, 2007. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index added 5.52, or 0.42%, to 1324.57, the highest close since June 19, 2008.

The consumer sector was the best-performing category in the S&P 500, with McDonald's giving a boost while Urban Outfitters also was strong. Shares of the teen retailer leapt 1.95, or 5.6%, to 37.06, after Citigroup raised its investment rating on the stock to hold Air Jordan from sell, noting that inventory and sales growth are becoming more in sync.

The advances came even as China's central bank said it will raise its benchmark deposit and lending rates by 0.25 percentage point, the first rate increases this year as the country seeks to fend off rising inflation. The move, effective Wednesday, signals more tightening may follow in the months ahead if consumer prices continue to rise.

While some previous tightening moves by China have been met with concerns over how they would impact global growth, the market took Tuesday's rate increase in stride, as the inflation it is meant to help stave off has become an increasing concern. Analysts have expected a rate Air Jordan 9 increase, as consumer prices are widely expected to keep rising sharply in the first quarter, driven by strong holiday demand and bad weather.

"The concern has really moved from worries about the sustainability of the economic recovery to [asking] is inflation getting to be a problem and are we importing it from China," said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management.

In Egypt, a large crowd gathered at central Cairo's Tahrir Square, as protesters ignored incremental moves by the government toward promised changes and renewed their demand for the immediate exit of President Hosni Mubarak.

The U.S. Dollar Index, tracking the U.S. currency against a basket of six others, slipped 0.1%. Treasurys also declined 19/32, lifting the yield on the 10-year note up to a nine-month Jimmy choo shoes high at 3.721%, following a disappointing sale of $32 billion in three-year notes. Prices and yields move inversely.

Crude-oil prices wobbled between small advances and declines before settling down 54 cents, or 0.6%, to $86.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold climbed $15.80, or 1.2%, to $1363.40, snapping a two-session loss streak.

The latest round of earnings reports came in mixed.

ArcelorMittal jumped 1.53, or 4.2%, to 38.31. The steelmaker swung to a fourth-quarter net loss as market conditions remained challenging, but investors were encouraged by a forecast Christian Louboutin Heels from its chief executive for demand to gradually improve in 2011.

The U.S. shares of Toyota Motor climbed 3.44, or 4%, to 88.57, after the Japanese auto maker predicted its net profit would jump in the fiscal year ending in March thanks to strong sales overseas and extensive cost-cutting.