U.S. stocks rose to finish the biggest weekly gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since November as takeover speculation lifted health-care companies and financial shares capped their steepest advance on record.

Humana Inc., the second-biggest provider of U.S.-funded health insurance, jumped 7.7 percent as investors placed bets that it will be acquired. Merck & Co. added 13 percent after Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. advised buying the shares because of the company’s planned acqusition of Schering-Plough Corp. Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley climbed more than 5 percent as the S&P 500 Financials Index posted a five-day gain to 34 percent, the best week since the gauge was created in 1989.

The S&P 500 increased 0.8 percent to 756.55. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 53.92 points, or 0.8 percent, to 7,223.98. The Russell 2000 Index climbed 0.8 percent. About three stocks gained for every two that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.

The S&P 500 rose almost 11 percent over the past five days, its biggest weekly increase since a 12 percent rally in the period ended Nov. 28. The advance came after the benchmark index for U.S. equities closed at a 12-year low of 676.53 on March 9.

(Bloomberg.com)