NEW YORK » A stock market gaining confidence in the nation's financial system bolted higher yesterday, propelling the Dow Jones industrials and Standard & Poor's 500 index to their first four-day advance since last spring.

The market reversed losses from earlier in the session after President-elect Barack Obama pledged he would have a plan to deal with the nation's economic crisis on his first day in office. After filling more spots to his economic team, Obama stated that “;help is on the way.”;

The Dow is up 1,174 points, or 15.5 percent, during the past four days, and the S&P 500 is up 135, or 18 percent - giving both indicators their biggest four-day rise since the Great Depression.

Consolidated volume, which includes trades on other exchanges, came to 5.71 billion shares, compared to 6.72 billion on Tuesday.

The Dow industrials rose 247.14, or 2.91 percent, 8,726.61.

Broader indicators also rose. The S&P 500 advanced 30.29, or 3.53 percent, to 887.68; it last had a four-day winning streak May 27-30. Its rally was its largest since 1933.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 67.37, or 4.60 percent, to 1,532.10. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 25.45, or 5.74 percent, to 468.63.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by 3 to 1 on the NYSE.

Bond prices rose yesterday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 2.99 percent from 3.10 percent late Tuesday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, fell to 0.03 percent from 0.09 percent late Tuesday.

The dollar mostly rose against other major currencies, while gold prices fell. Light, sweet crude rose $3.67 to settle at $54.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In economic news, the U.S. Labor Department said initial requests for unemployment benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 529,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised figure of 543,000. That is lower than analysts' expectations of 537,000. Still, the initial claims remain at recessionary levels.

The U.S. Commerce Department said orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods plunged in October by the largest amount in two years as the economy weakened. The 6.2 percent drop was more than double the 3 percent decline economists expected.

Some consumer technology names managed to post gains as investors hoped they might be able to see post holiday results.

Apple Inc. rose $4.20, or 4.6 percent, to $95.00, while Dell Inc. rose 63 cents, or 6 percent, to $11.05.

Blue chip stocks were higher. Citigroup Inc., which received a bailout by the government this week to stabilize the bank, surged 97 cents, or 16 percent, to $7.05.

Consumer products maker Procter & Gamble Co. fell 2 cents to $63.16, while Chevron Corp. rose $3.40, or 4.4 percent, to $79.39.