* G20 in $1 trillion deal to stave off recession
* Regulator relaxes accounting rules for banks
* Factory orders rise in February
* Dow up 2.8 pct, S&P up 2.9 pct, Nasdaq gains 3.3 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news click []
(Updates with Research in Motion's results after the bell,
adds context on indexes in paragraph 2, plus latest Nasdaq
volume )
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - U.S stocks rallied for a
third day on Thursday as more data pointed to a stabilizing
economy and changes to an accounting rule were seen as shoring
up the volatile financial sector in the short term.
World leaders at the G20 summit on London also boosted
markets when they announced an additional trillion dollars to
support the International Monetary Fund and boost flagging
trade. For more details see [].
Stocks have surged in recent sessions as data increasingly
point to an easing in the deep recession. The Dow is now on
track for its best four-week rally since 1933. Both the
blue-chip Dow average and the S&P 500 ended Thursday's session
at nearly two-month highs.
Industrial, technology, consumer discretionary and energy
stocks were the biggest gainers after government data showed
U.S. factory orders rose in February for the first time in
seven months, adding to positive economic news earlier in the
week.
General Electric <GE.N>, which not only has customers
around the world and a large finance arm, but also operates
businesses closely linked to the economic cycle, rose nearly 6
percent.
"There's definitely signs that the degree of free fall (in
the economy) has declined substantially. We're definitely
seeing bounces off the bottom in different areas," said David
Kreinces, portfolio manager at ETF Portfolio Management in
Newbury Park, California.
"The bottom over the next six months, should it hold,
could present a very fast-moving up market, like we've seen
over the past month. That presents the biggest risk to
investors as missing the start of the next bull market."
The Dow Jones industrial average <> jumped 216.48
points, or 2.79 percent, to 7,978.08. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> rose 23.30 points, or 2.87 percent, to
834.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> leaped 51.03
points, or 3.29 percent, to 1,602.63.
Thursday's rally helped the S&P 500 rise 23.3 percent from
12-year lows reached early last month and cut its year-to-date
losses to around 7.6 percent.
The Dow traded above 8,000 for the first time since early
February on an intraday basis.
RESEARCH IN MOTION JUMPS LATE
In news that could lift the Nasdaq on Friday, shares of
Research in Motion <RIM.TO><RIMM.O> soared almost 22 percent
after the BlackBerry maker posted better-than-expected results
and gave a rosy outlook after the closing bell.
In extended-hours trading, Research in Motion's
U.S.-listed stock shot up to $59.75. It had closed on Nasdaq
at $49.09, up 7.6 percent.
Financial shares, a key driver of the recent rally, rose
on bets for an improving global economy and the relaxation of
accounting rules, which have shaken financial institutions
with hefty write-downs. See [].
Shares of Bank of America <BAC.N> climbed 2.7 percent to
$7.24 while Citigroup <C.N> rose 2.2 percent to $2.74 and
Wells Fargo & Co <WFC.N> gained 5.9 percent to $15.33. An
index of S&P financial stocks <.GSPF> added 2.9 percent.
The Nasdaq is now up more than 1.6 percent for the year.
"There seems to be a sense that perhaps we have reached
bottom and we're turning to to the upside," said Bucky
Hellwig, senior vice president at Morgan Asset Management in
Birmingham, Alabama.
But he cautioned: "I don't think everyone is willing to
embrace that, though, because we still have potential risks
going through the rest of the month," noting key employment
data out on Friday.
The industrial sector ranked among the top gainers in a
broad-based rally as U.S. data showed new orders received by
factories rose 1.8 percent in February after a 3.5 percent
drop in January, breaking six months of declines and boosting
hopes of a start to climbing out of recession. []
The data followed on the heels of positive news on
Wednesday from manufacturers and car makers.
Shares of construction, mining and forestry machinery
manufacturer Caterpillar jumped 8.8 percent to $31.54.
In the consumer discretionary sector, Tiffany & Co
<TIF.N> shot up 6.8 percent to $23.34, while in tech IBM
<IBM.N> rose 3.3 percent to $100.82.
Chevron <CVX.N> gave another major boost to the blue-chip
Dow industrials, up 2.9 percent at $70.31, as crude oil
futures <CLc1> shot up nearly 9 percent to $52.64 a barrel on
optimism for an economic recovery.
Shares of General Electric rose 5.6 percent to $10.74.
Trading was active on the New York Stock Exchange, with
about 1.87 billion shares changing hands, above last year's
estimated daily average of 1.49 billion, while on Nasdaq,
about 2.76 billion shares traded, above last year's daily
average of 2.28 billion.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of about 7 to 1, while on the Nasdaq, nearly four
stocks rose for every one that fell.
(Additional reporting by Leah Schnurr, Editing by Jan
Paschal)
