Wall Street jumps on tech rebound

The Dow has risen 15.6 per cent in the last four days, the largest four-day per centage gain since 1932.

Wednesday’s surge was fueled by energy stocks after oil rose more than 7 per cent and General Motors shares soared over 35 per cent.

Automakers’ shares rose after Deutsche Bank said the beleaguered companies’ prospects for a federal bailout have improved.

The US government’s recent move to prop up Citigroup may have helped investors overlook more economic data that continued to show a weakening economy, market participants said.

“For the last two days, it’s been made very clear that the Fed and Treasury are opening up pocketbooks,” said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer of Johnson Illington Advisors in Albany, New York.

“As a result, it has become less likely that a major financial institution will run into trouble and it’s becoming more likely that the auto sector will receive some assistance.”

The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 247.14 points, or 2.91 per cent, to 8,726.61. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 30.29 points, or 3.53 per cent, to 887.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 67.37 points, or 4.60 per cent, to 1,532.10.

S&P’S BEST STREAK SINCE MAY

The S&P’s four-day advance is its best run since May.

US investors did not react, traders said, to news reports of multiple attacks in India’s financial capital Mumbai, in which at least 80 people were killed.

A 7.2 per cent surge in the price of oil futures lifted energy shares, making Chevron and Exxon Mobil Corp the biggest contributors to the Dow’s advance.

Chevron rose 4.4 per cent to $79.93 and Exxon Mobil climbed nearly 4 per cent to $80.89. US front-month crude gained $3.67 to settle at $54.44 a barrel.