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NEW YORK: US stocks swung higher on Wednesday as an upbeat report on orders for big-ticket manufactured goods helped offset worries about the economic outlook and a big jump in oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 89.64 points (0.79 percent) to close at 11,502.51.
The Nasdaq composite advanced 20.49 points (0.87 percent) to 2,382.46, while the Standard & Poor's 500 broad-market index rose 10.15 points (0.80 percent) to 1,281.66.
Trading was light with many participants absent ahead of the Labour Day weekend, the traditional end of the summer season.
Ahead of the opening, the Commerce Department said new orders for manufactured durable goods - big-ticket items including cars and refrigerators - rose 1.3 percent, defying forecasts for a flat reading.
"This report adds to the growing number of indications that the major problems may be easing," said Joel Naroff at Naroff Economic Advisors.
"Housing seems to be stabilising, businesses are spending money and consumer confidence is edging up. While we should not expect to see any major upturn in activity the rest of this year, we could evade having any quarter post negative growth."
The mood remained somewhat cautious after Tuesday's report showing a rise in the number of troubled US banks, and as oil prices rose on fears of damage to output by Tropical Storm Gustav in the Gulf of Mexico.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, advanced 1.88 dollars to close at 118.15 dollars a barrel.
The storm "does threaten the energy complex in the Gulf and will undoubtedly have an impact on residents along the Gulf coast of Mississippi and Louisiana who are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, which hit the same area two years ago," said Fred Dickson at DA Davidson & Co.
"The textbook says that the stock market should brace for the storm as well, as it did in 2005 ahead of Hurricane Katrina hitting Louisiana and Mississippi. With Gustav tracking through Cuba heading for the Gulf of Mexico, we have a hard time seeing the stock market sustaining a rally going into the Labour Day weekend."
The troubled finance sector was leading the gainers: Fannie Mae surged 15.3 percent to 6.48 dollars and Freddie Mac advanced 19.6 percent to 4.75 after comments from analysts suggesting the two mortgage finance giants might not need a government bailout.
Ailing investment bank Lehman Brothers extended is recovery, rising 5.35 percent to 14.78.
ExxonMobil, the biggest US oil and gas firm, rose 0.65 percent to 80.47 dollars and rival added 0.97 percent to 86.62.
But airlines felt the pain from rising oil prices: Delta Air Lines skidded 7.8 percent to 7.32 dollars and United Airlines parent UAL lost 11.4 percent to 9.88.
Bonds gained. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond fell to 3.772 percent from 3.784 percent on Tuesday and that on the 30-year bond eased to 4.383 percent against 4.395 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions. - AFP/de
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