NEW YORK — Investors have reason to be thankful for the first time in a while.
The stock market Wednesday stitched together its first four-day rally since May, thanks to an incipient wave of confidence in the federal government's attempts to spur the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average surged almost 250 points, and its 16% advance since Thursday marked its biggest four-day rally since 1932, during the Great Depression.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index has rocketed 18% since it sank to an 11-year low Nov. 20, its best four-day streak since 1933.
The day's gains were broad-based. The Dow rose 247.14 points, or 2.9%, to 8,726.61. The S&P 500 climbed 30.29 points, or 3.5%, to 887.68. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index shot up 67.37 points, or 4.6%, to 1,532.10.
Measures of small and mid-size stocks, which typically rise in anticipation of economic recoveries, rose more than 5%.
Rising stocks outnumbered decliners by more than 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.
"On the surface, it was a pretty good day," said John Bollinger, head of Bollinger Capital Management in Manhattan Beach. "But under the surface, it was a much better day than it first appeared."
As they have in recent days, stocks withstood a gust of bad economic news.
Americans cut their spending by 1% last month, the largest decline since the last recession in 2001, while orders for durable goods such as washing machines shrank 6.2%, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Also, the Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment dropped to its lowest level in 28 years.
Shares of General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. rallied after a Deutsche Bank analyst predicted that the automakers would present aggressive plans to revamp themselves to qualify for federal bailout money.
Citigroup Inc. rose 16%. It is up 87% since getting a second round of government assistance Sunday.
The S&P financial index has risen 32% in the last week.
Energy stocks surged as crude oil rose sharply for the second time in three days, finishing up $3.94 a barrel at $54.71.
Shares of Chevron jumped 4.4% while Exxon Mobil rose 3.6%. The S&P index of energy companies rose 5.7%.
Some consumer technology stocks gained on hope for stronger-than-expected holiday season sales.
Apple climbed 4.6% while Dell jumped 6%.
