NEW YORK » Wall Street showed some welcome signs of stability yesterday, taking a downbeat gross domestic product report in stride and driving the Dow Jones industrial average up nearly 190 points in relatively calm trading. Even the last half-hour of the session, lately a period of turbulent activity, was comparatively quiet.

The market that a week ago was reeling from fears about recession was more composed after the U.S. Commerce Department's report that GDP fell at an annual rate of 0.3 percent during the third quarter - its worst showing in seven years. Analysts expected a 0.5 percent decline in GDP, the broadest measure of economic growth or contraction, but while the report was better than expected, it still pointed to an economy that is shrinking.

“;It does look like the market is taking a tentatively better tone today,”; said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist, director of asset allocation for RidgeWorth Capital Management. “;Pessimism and skepticism have become the dominant mode of thinking. And that's usually when I think that the market is more ripe for a rebound.”;

Yesterday, Exxon Mobil Corp. adhered to its five-year capital spending forecast, a day after Starbucks Corp.'s CEO Howard Schultz said it appears the coffee retailer's store traffic may have already bottomed out.

The Dow rose 189.73, or 2.11 percent, to 9,180.69.

Broader stock indicators also finished higher. The S&P 500 index rose 24.00, or 2.58 percent, to 954.09, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 41.31, or 2.49 percent, to 1,698.52.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 23.30, or 4.75 percent, to 514.18.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 6.06 billion shares, down from 7.01 billion shares on Wednesday.

The Dow is still down 15 percent for the month of October, following the mid-September bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. that contributed to a freeze in the credit markets, and in turn, devastating losses on Wall Street.

Another sign of a calmer stock market: Wall Street's fear gauge, the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, dropped to 62.90 from 69.96 on Wednesday and Monday's near-record level of 80.06. The VIX, which normally trades below 50, tracks options activity for the companies that make up the S&P 500.

The yield on the three-month Treasury bill, regarded as the safest investment around and an indicator of investor sentiment, fell to 0.37 percent from 0.55 percent Wednesday. A drop in yield indicates an increase in buying. Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.97 percent from 3.86 percent late Wednesday.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Light, sweet crude fell $1.54 to settle at $65.96 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.