Stocks Rise for Fourth Day in a Row

U.S. indexes climbed Wednesday despite worse-than-expected reports on durable goods orders, new home sales, and manufacturing and consumer sentiment

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U.S. stocks fell Wednesday morning amid gloomy economic data, but revived ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday with tech shares taking the lead.

Stocks turned in their fourth consecutive positive session after President-elect Barack Obama named former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker to lead a new White House economic board. Obama also promised to have a plan to deal with the economic crisis on his first day in office. "Help is on the way," he said.

Wall Street had to contend with a blitz of U.S. economic data, neatly all of it negative. While weekly initial jobless claims fell 14,000 to 529,000, October durable goods orders plunged 6.2%, October personal income rose 0.3%, October personal consumption expenditures fell 1.0%, and October New Home Sales plunged 5.3% to 433,000

Meanwhile, the November Chicago purchasing managers' index fell to 33.8 -- its lowest reading since 1982 -- from 37.8 in October, and the November Michigan consumer sentiment index fell to 55.8 from 57.9 in October.

"We are tired of writing today that this is the weakest reading since sometime in the early 1980s, but this is broadly true of jobless claims, consumer sentiment, manufacturing activity, and home sales today," said John Ryding and Conrad DeQuadros of RDQ Economics.

Volcker, who as Fed chairman battled inflation in the 1980s, will head the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. The panel will give Obama advice on economic matters from those outside the administration. "Sometimes policymaking in Washington can become too insular," Obama said.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 247.14 points, or 2.91%, at 8,726.61. The broad S&P 500 index rose 30.29 points, or 3.53%, to 887.68. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index added 67.37 points, or 4.6%, to 1,532.10.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 27 stocks rose for every five that fell in price. On the Nasdaq, the ratio was 22 to 6 positive.

Bonds surged on the weak data in a holiday-shortened session. Gold futures were lower, while oil futures were higher after China cut rates as part of a stimulus plan.

U.S. financial markets will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday Thursday.

European stock markets were mostly lower, with major indexes in London and Paris posting declines and Frankfurt's index flat. Asian equity markets ended mixed, with Tokyo stocks down 1.33%, Hong Kong up 3.81%. and Shanghai higher by 0.49%.

Wednesday's U.S. stock market advance marked the first string of four up days in a row since May 27-30, notes Miller Tabak strategist Phillip Roth. "That is hint of strengthening in the trend," he wrote in a note Wednesday.