NEW YORK - WALL Street stocks roared higher at Friday's open after news of a massive plan to help save troubled financial firms drowning in toxic debt sparked renewed confidence.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 394.56 points (3.58 per cent) to 11,414.25 in the first trades after a 400-point rally for blue chips Thursday after news of the programme filtered out.

The Nasdaq composite surged 108.43 points (4.93 per cent) to 2,307.53 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 44.89 points (3.72 per cent) to 1,251.40.

Market action came as US authorities bolstered their arsenal to battle the financial market conflagration, offering fresh guarantees to stem a run on deposits and new rules to curb stock market speculators.

An even more bold plan was set into action late on Thursday with US finance officials and Congressional leaders to create a massive programme to clear away the mountains of bad debt that have weighed down banks and set off the worst financial crisis in decades.

'Overnight, the game changed,' said Mr John Wilson at Morgan Keegan.

'We hope this is the beginning of something major.' -- AFP