NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks rose strongly Thursday, lifted by a late rally as investors digested a mixed batch of US economic data and details of a bankruptcy plan for General Motors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue-chip stocks rallied 103.78 points (1.25 per cent) to finish at 8,403.80. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 20.71 points (1.20 per cent) to 1,751.79 and the broad-market Standard & Poor’s 500 index advanced 13.77 points (1.54 per cent) to 906.83.
Energy shares led gains after the US government reported a larger-than-expected decline in US crude oil inventories, sparking hopes of a recovery in demand that sent oil prices sharply higher.
“Big oil has been good for the US economy. Big oil does well when the economy is doing well and the increase that we have seen in oil prices is a sign that the economy is recovering,” said Phil Flynn of Alaron Trading. -- AFP