* Bargain hunters rush back in and drive recovery
* Energy shares lead gains, financials cut losses
* Economic worries persist after worrying outlooks
* Dow up 6.7 pct, S&P up 6.9 pct, Nasdaq up 6.5 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, please click on
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(Updates to close)
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK, Nov 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks surged on
Thursday and broke a three-day losing streak after the S&P 500
and Nasdaq touched new five-year lows earlier in the session,
prompting investors to put aside worries about the flagging
economy and scoop up wilted shares at fire-sale prices.
Capping off a volatile session, energy stocks led the
market higher alongside a recovery in oil prices <CLc1> as
OPEC looked ready to cut production again. Chevron <CVX.N> and
Exxon Mobil <XOM.N> gave the Dow its biggest lift, while oil
rose over 5 percent above $59 a barrel in post-settlement
trading.
But analysts said news about the economy was still grim,
after Intel Corp <INTC.O> slashed its revenue outlook,
underscoring concerns that the ailing global economy is
hurting technology spending by businesses and consumers.
At one point during Thursday's session, the S&P 500 fell
below its Oct. 10 closing low to its lowest since March 2003,
a key technical breach that traders said suggested the market
could find short-term support. The Dow industrials briefly
fell below 8,000, while both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell
through their 2008 lows set in October.
"The fundamental news right now is just dreadful," said
Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated
Investors in New York, adding that the market "ended up
blowing through the support level we thought we had
established at the bottom of the market on Oct. 10."
The Dow Jones industrial average <> jumped 552.59
points, or 6.67 percent, to 8,835.25. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> surged 58.99 points, or 6.92 percent, to
911.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> climbed 97.49
points, or 6.50 percent, to 1,596.70.
The three major U.S. indexes swung in a wide band from
high to low, with the S&P 500 traveling 94.32 points from its
session low at 818.69 to intraday peak at 913.01, while the
Dow industrials covered 911.17 points and the Nasdaq moved
168.16 points.
Chevron jumped 12.5 percent to $75.71, while Exxon rose
9.4 percent to $75.41. An S&P index of energy companies
<.GSPE> soared 11.1 percent.
Intel reversed an earlier decline and rose 6.7 percent to
close at $14.43 on the Nasdaq, spurring other big-cap
technology shares to shift gears and push higher.
After Wednesday's closing bell, Intel cut its revenue
outlook, citing weak demand globally.
Among gainers, Microsoft <MSFT.O> rose 4.7 percent to
$21.25, while Apple <AAPL.O> gained 7 percent to $96.44.
Citigroup Inc <C.N> pared earlier losses, but remained the
biggest drag on the Dow, losing 2 percent to $9.45, after a
report that directors are unhappy with the bank's performance
and may replace its chairman. Citi's board of directors
reiterated its full support for Chairman Win Bischoff.
General Motors <GM.N> fell 4.2 percent to $2.95 after
Goldman Sachs suspended its rating and said the ailing
automaker needs at least $22 billion in federal aid.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc <WMT.N> gained 4.4 percent to finish
at $54.93, after moving between negative and positive
territory throughout the session. Wal-Mart, the world's
biggest retailer and a Dow component, reported a slightly
better-than-expected rise in quarterly profit, but lowered its
full-year outlook.
Adding to the negative outlook on the economy, a
government report showed the number of people filing new
claims for jobless benefits in the latest week shot to the
highest in seven years, since the weeks after the Sept. 11
attacks in 2001.
Trading was active on the New York Stock Exchange, with
about 1.99 billion shares changing hands, slightly above last
year's estimated daily average of roughly 1.90 billion, while
on Nasdaq, about 3.01 billion shares traded, above last year's
daily average of 2.17 billion.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on both the
NYSE and the Nasdaq by a ratio of more than 2 to 1.
(Editing by Jan Paschal)
