New York : Stocks surged yesterday after reports on the US job market and Chinese exports lifted some of investors' anxiety about the global economic recovery.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose about 200 points in morning trading. The Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed about 2 per cent, while the technology-dominated Nasdaq composite index rose about 1.7 per cent.
In midmorning trading, the Dow rose 202.62, or 2.1 per cent, to 10,101.87. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 21.17, or 2 per cent, to 1,076.86, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 36.25, or 1.7 per cent, to 2,195.10.
Energy stocks led the market higher after sliding in the final hour of trading on Wednesday on concerns that BP would be forced to cut its dividend because of the fallout from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
BP rose 10.5 per cent off a 14-year low, while Anadarko Petroleum, which has a minority stake in the rig that caused the spill, rose 10.7 per cent.
Investors have pounded stocks for more than a month because of concerns that Europe's sovereign debt crisis would slow a rebound worldwide. But yesterday's rally was the latest swing in a volatile market and could fizzle at the first sign of bad news. Some of the advance could be coming from ‘short-covering'.
That's when traders are forced to buy stock after having earlier sold borrowed shares in a bet that the market would fall. The moves can add to the market's climb.
Asian and European markets rose after China said exports rose 48.5 per cent in May, while imports jumped 48.3 per cent.
The jump in trade provides some relief that mounting debt problems in Europe might not halt a global recovery. The European Union is China's largest trading partner.
Economic recovery in China and other developing nations has outpaced a rebound in more developed economies, so a pullback there would deal a blow to global growth.
