Markets rise on back of positive forecasts

US stocks rallied today as heavyweights like General Electric and International Paper gave reassuring forecasts and helped invigorate…

US stocks rallied today as heavyweights like General Electric and International Paper gave reassuring forecasts and helped invigorate a market sitting at multi-year lows.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 115 points, or 1.50 per cent, to 7,798, after dropping 2.4 per cent to a four-year low yesterday.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 11 points, or 1.40 per cent, to 830. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index rose 17 points, or 1.51 per cent, to 1,199.

European stocks rose on the back of Wall Street's surge keeping up their recovery from the five-and-a-half-year lows of yesterday.

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The FTSE 100 rose 72 points to 3,743.90 while the German DAX rose 39 points to 2,912.79.

Earlier the FTSE Eurotop 300 index jumped 3 per cent to 832 points, after closing yesterday at its weakest level since April 1997.

Trading volumes were heavy and gains were broad-based, with advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of five-to-one. The narrower DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 3.8 per cent to 2,269 points.