NEW YORK -- Stocks closed out October on a strong note, giving the Dow its biggest one-month gain in nearly 12 years and a rebound of 15 percent in just three weeks. Dow up 97.07
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 97.07 points to 8,592.10, adding to yesterday's 123-point gain for its best finish since before the late August sell-off.
The Dow's up 14 percent in two months, and is within 750 points of its all-time high set in July.
The average added 9.6 percent for the month, compared with a 13.8 percent rally in January 1987.
Broader stock indicators also posted big gains amid signs of resilience in the domestic economy.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 12.74 to 1,098.67 and the Nasdaq composite index gained 14.20 to 1,771.39.
Volume on the New York Stock Exchange was 771.54 million compared to 675.17 yesterday.
The NYSE index rose 7.04 to 543.35 and the American Stock Exchange composite index advanced 7.93 to 645.41.
The Russell 2000 index of small companies gained 3.68 to 378.16.
The 30-year Treasury bond fell 1 4/32 to 105 10/32, with the yield rising to 5.15 percent.
Helping lift the market was last-minute positioning by mutual funds, most of which closed their fiscal year after today's session. Portfolio managers were said to be stocking up on popular names for their annual reports to shareholders.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.8 percent. Germany's DAX index rose 2.7 percent, Britain's FT-SE 100 rose 1.5 percent and France's CAC-40 rose 1.1 percent.