NEW YORK: 

Smiles at last: Traders rejoice after the closing bell was rung at Wall Street yesterday. Pic/AP

Wall Street marked its second-best day ever yesterday as investors, convinced that central banks worldwide will cut rates even more, scooped up stocks that had been driven down to their lowest prices in more than five years.

The Dow Jones jumped 889.35 points, or 10.88 per cent, to 9,065.12. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index surged 91.59 points, or 10.79 per cent, to 940.51.
The Nasdaq ran up 143.57 points, or 9.53 per cent, to 1,649.47.

It was the second-biggest point gain ever for the Dow and the S&P. These advances were surpassed only by the rally on October 13, when the Dow jumped 936.42 points and the S&P 500 climbed 104.13 points after governments pledged to pour cash into struggling banks and a Japanese banking group completed its investment in Morgan Stanley.