Stocks rose for a third straight day yesterday, as guarded optimism about a US economic rebound and equity market revival grew with a bullish call by influential Wall Street strategist Mr Abby Joseph Cohen.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed to its best finish in more than two weeks, up 138.38 points, or 1.31 per cent, to 10,729.60, according to the latest data.

The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 19.49 points, or 0.88 per cent, to 2,223.92. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 8.09 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 1,261.89.

Based on the S&P 500's advance, this was the first string of three up days for the broad index since mid-January.

Mr Cohen's call came one day after Intel, the world's number one chip maker, and JDS Uniphase, the world's number one fibre-optic parts supplier, offered disappointing outlooks.