Stocks shrugged off the jitters and staged a powerful rally yesterday as investors returned hunting for bargains, especially in the technology sector.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq exploded with a gain of 241.86 (7.87 per cent) to close at 3,316.54 and the Dow Jones rose 157.60 to 10,192.18. The Standard and Poor's 500 rallied 44.34 (3.33 per cent) to 1,374.12.

For the Nasdaq, the surge was the second biggest ever in percentage terms and the fourth largest in points.

Still, the Nasdaq is down some 20 per cent from early September, while the Dow Jones, which lost 3.6 per cent on Thursday alone, is more than 9 per cent lower. Some analysts warn that underlying sentiment remains poor and that yesterday's jump could be a "dead-cat bounce" that will fail to sustain a rally.

On the bond market, the yield on the 10-year bond held steady at 5.715 per cent and that on the 30-year bond eased to 5.799 per cent from 5.809.