Heavy trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as stocks are on their strongest run since the bear market started a year and a half ago. The Dow surged 2.3% as momentum keeps building, signalling that the markets may have finally stabilised.
NEW YORK - WALL Street shares powered higher on Thursday to extend their rally amid growing optimism on prospects for economic recovery as the market shook off the latest grim reminders of the depth of the slump.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average vaulted 174.75 points (2.25 per cent) to 7,924.56 at the closing bell, extending the rally that has pushed the blue-chip index up more than 20 per cent from March 9 lows.
The Nasdaq composite lifted 58.05 points (3.80 per cent) to 1,587.00, as the tech-heavy index turned positive for 2009.
The broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 18.94 points (2.33 per cent) to a preliminary close of 832.82.
Market action came after data showing a revised 6.3 per cent pace of decline in the US economy in the fourth quarter, a modest revision from the prior estimate of a 6.2 per cent shrinkage.
A separate report showed the number of new jobless claims in the US rose by 1.2 per cent to 652,000 during the week ending March 21 as the country reeled from recession.
But analysts at Charles Schwab said that following other data and the growing government rescue plans being put into place, 'optimism is preserved that the worst of the recession may be behind us.' -- AFP
