U.S. stocks rally after more government spending is promised to help boost
the U.S. economy.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 20, 2008) NYSE -
U.S. stocks rallied on Monday (October 20) after the Federal
Reserve's chairman backed more government spending to help the economy and
credit market conditions showed further signs of improvement. But the advance
of over 4 percent in both the Dow and S&P came on the thinnest daily
volume in nearly a month, signaling investors remain skittish about diving
back into stocks after weeks of punishing volatility.
With stocks at five-year lows, thawing credit markets did inspire some
bargain hunters to buy some of the biggest victims of the recent sell-off.
Shares of energy, utilities and materials companies led the way higher.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 413.21 points, or 4.67 percent,
to 9,265.43, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 44.85 points,
or 4.77 percent, to 985.40. The Nasdaq Composite Index shot up 58.74 points,
or 3.43 percent, at 1,770.03.
Trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange was the lowest since
Sept. 26. On the NYSE, about 1.23 billion shares changing hands, far below
last year's estimated daily average of roughly 1.90 billion, while on Nasdaq,
about 2.06 billion shares traded, also below last year's daily average of 2.17
billion.