US stocks in solid rebound, Dow up nearly 4%

The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue-chip stocks closed up 429.92 points, or 3.98 percent, to 11,239.77.

The broader S&P 500 climbed 53.07 points (4.74 percent) to 1,172.53, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 124.83 points (5.29 percent) at 2,482.52.

The rebound came after the markets had their worst day Monday since the 2008 financial collapse: the Dow lost 5.6 percent, the S&P 500 6.7 percent, and the Nasdaq 6.9 percent.

The surge came in the last hour, with the Dow 150 points in negative territory 45 minutes before the close.

It followed an announcement by the Federal Reserve that it expected to maintain interest rates at ultra-low levels for the next two years due to economic weakness.

In the immediate aftermath of that announcement, the markets sagged on the news that no new direct stimulus was in the works.

"Just as stocks threatened to break down again, the S&P 500 was able to attract support in the 1100 zone. It then climbed aggressively into the close," said analysts at Briefing.com.

All of the Dow\'s blue chips jumped, with Bank of America rocketing 16.74 percent to recover much of its 20.3 percent Monday plunge.

In addition to the overall market sell-off Monday, the bank\'s drop was spurred by AIG\'s $10.5 billion lawsuit over losses incurred on mortgage-backed securities sold by a Bank of America unit.

Insurer The Travelers Company added 6.4 percent, and Alcoa 8.0 percent.

On the Nasdaq, eBay jumped 11.6 percent, Yahoo 8.75 percent, and Apple 5.6 percent.

Already at two-year lows, US bond yields plunged after the Fed\'s announcement.

The 10-year Treasury bond dropped to 2.18 percent from 2.34 percent late Monday, while that on the 30-year Treasury fell to 3.57 percent from 3.66 percent.

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