Stocks rallied hard after two days of weak performance, boosted by benign economic data, strong retail sales reports and higher oil prices. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 191.52 points - or by 2 per cent - to 9,467.40, near the day's high. The index more than erased the 48-point loss over the previous two sessions and ended above 9,400 for the first time in more than a week. The market opened stronger after IBM announced that it had agreed to supply Dell Computer with computer parts in a $16 billion (€14.78 billion), seven-year pact.

Oil and oil-service stocks rose for the second day in a row, after oil prices pushed above $13.25 (€12.24) a barrel following reports of dwindling oil supplies and a temporary interruption of pumping in Iraq.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 13-to-nine margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,723 up, 1,195 down and 611 unchanged. NYSE volume totalled 768.79 million shares.