Stock market rebounds in a big way

Traders celebrate on the floor of the NYSE
Traders celebrate on the floor of the New York Stock exchange at the closing bell. U.S. stocks surged more than 11 percent, with the Dow index registering its biggest point gain ever as investors cheered governments' action plans to combat the global financial crisis.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

(AP) - Wall Street has stormed back from last week's devastating losses, sending the Dow Jones industrials soaring a nearly inconceivable 938 points after major governments' plans to support the global banking system reassured distraught investors.

The Dow by far outstripped its previous record for a one-day point gain, 499, reached during the waning days of the dot-com boom in 2000.

The market was likely to have a rebound after eight days of precipitous losses that took the Dow down nearly 2,400 points, but no one expected this kind of advance.

Still, back-and-forth trading is likely to continue as Wall Street still contends with a crippled financial system and a struggling economy. So some of Monday's big gains may disappear when trading resumes Tuesday.

The Dow is up about 938 points at the 9,389 level. All the major indexes are up more than 11 percent.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)