Wall Street rebounds as stocks rise overseas

NEW YORK » Wall Street rebounded yesterday as investors were encouraged by a recovery on world markets and moved to recoup some of the big losses suffered in last week's sharp pullback. The Dow Jones industrials rose more than 150 points.

Investors came off the sidelines to buy stocks that have languished in five turbulent sessions. The Dow made back about 26 percent of the ground it lost over the past week, and scored its highest one-day point gain since July 24.

U.S. investors were still contending with fundamental economic issues, including a weaker than expected reading on fourth-quarter productivity and the dollar's vulnerability against the yen.

The advance yesterday treated Wall Street traders to what had become a rare sight -- the color green splashed across their computer screens that show stock prices, instead of last week's red. But, after being knocked about by erratic market shifts in recent sessions, there was still a sense this might not be the recovery everyone is waiting for.

"I don't think we should get too used to seeing all this green," said Jay Suskind, head trader at Ryan Beck & Co. "This market feels to me like it doesn't have legs, there just doesn't seem to be that euphoria out there. There is still trepidation."

The Dow rose 157.18, or 1.30 percent, to 12,207.59, after dropping 581 points over the past week. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 21.29, or 1.55 percent, at 1,395.41 in its biggest advance since July.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 44.46, or 1.90 percent, to 2,385.14. The tech-dominated index, which includes many companies considered young and risky compared to S&P 500 stocks, was particularly hard-hit in last week's slide. It was the Nasdaq's best one-day advance since Oct. 4.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was up 18.82, or 2.48 percent, at 778.88.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 3.29 billion shares, down from 3.44 billion shares on Monday.

Overseas, stock indexes posted healthy gains after plunging for the past week. According to the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Total Market Index, the world's markets had lost $3.1 trillion since Feb. 26 -- with $1 trillion coming from the U.S. alone.

Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 1.22 percent Tuesday. At the close, Britain's FTSE 100 regained 1.32 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.92 percent, and France's CAC-40 was up 0.97 percent.

The gain in equities and lingering inflation worries sent prices falling in the bond market. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.53 percent from 4.51 percent on Monday.

The dollar was up versus the yen, but mixed against other major currencies. Gold prices also rose.

Oil prices rose as strategists pointed to robust demand for gasoline and falling petroleum inventories. The price of a barrel of light sweet crude rose 60 cents to $60.67 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.