U.S. stocks rose for a fifth straight session on Thursday as a brighter outlook from consumer product company Procter & Gamble and a successful Treasury bond auction encouraged investors about an economic recovery.

Procter & Gamble

was the Dow's biggest lift, climbing 4.4 percent to $56.14, after it affirmed its earnings forecast for the current quarter and said sales would improve in the next quarter.

A third straight strong Treasury auction relieved concerns about the U.S. government's ability to fund its deficit, also giving a boost to the stock market.

The sale shows the U.S. ability to finance the deficit and its budget in light of the supply and ... the weak dollar. That is why stocks are trading up, said Peter Boockvar, managing director and equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 44 points, or 0.5 percent, at 9,592. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 6 points, or 0.5 percent, at 1,039. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 13 points, or 0.6 percent, at 2,073.

Chip companies Texas Instruments and ASML both boosted their sales outlooks in a signal consumers are spending cash on personal technology.

There is no selling pressure in this market. You see more believers in the market, more bullish sentiment and people are starting to believe that this rally is real, said Keith W. Springer, president at Capital Financial Advisory Services in Sacramento, California.

Adding to optimism was jobless claims data, which fell to its lowest since July, declining more than expected to 550,000 last week.

If the market maintains its gains, it would mark five consecutive advances and push the S&P 500 index to its highest level in nearly a year.

The gains were capped, however, by a 5.1 percent drop to $79.17 for Monsanto after the world's biggest seed company forecast fiscal 2010 earnings below Wall Street's estimates.

Health insurance stocks <.HMO> rose 3.3 percent after analysts said President Barack Obama's speech urging Congress to act on health care reform indicated a government-run insurance option opposed by the industry was less likely to pass.

On the Nasdaq, Yahoo Inc added 4.9 percent to $15.51 after Banc of America Securities-Merrill Lynch Research upgraded the company, saying growth in user traffic continues to outpace growth in the Internet as a whole.

(Reporting by Angela Moon, Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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